Flashpoint: The Jedi Prisoner
by NedeserThul
Summary: After gaining notoriety for their deeds, Alias Ordo, Jedi Knight, and Nedeser Thul, Jedi Consular, are called to assist a Jedi Master who had been contacted by a long dead Jedi from beyond the grave. It seems that, once again, the Republic needs their four greatest heroes to defy odds, defeat enemies and, this time, save a legendary Jedi Master.
1. Prologue

**Warning: Mature Content Ahead**

Moira Denic sat miserably at the bar at Carrack Station, the very center of the Republic Fleet. She and Corso had their worst falling out yet. Moira had gotten the treasure of Nok Dreyan. She was rich - disgustingly rich in fact and Risha was upgrading the _Soaring Dream_ with all the latest in legal - and illegal - technology from weapons to refrigeration. And yet, she was utterly miserable. With a groan, she laid her head on her forearms.

She had no idea where Corso was on the station either. He had grabbed his bag and headed to the quarters that were available for rent. Risha had bugged her about it until Moira told her everything at which point the mechanic had sighed and said, "Well, he'll come around, I'm sure. You just need to give him time and not push him too hard."

That was only so helpful and now, here the gorgeous smuggler captain sat, trying to drown her sorrows in liqueur and hoping that some sexy male being of legal age would come and take her mind off of her troubles. Suddenly, just such a gorgeous specimen sat down but Moira had to suppress a groan. He wouldn't be any help - at least, not the help she really wanted. "Hey, Des; how's saving the galaxy going?"

The tall, burly Jedi Nedeser Thul smiled and gave her a half hug. "Same as always, we just get done in time for someone else to muck it up. You, on the other hand, look like you're having a rough time of it. What's wrong, Moira?"

She sighed miserably and said, "Me and Corso had a falling out and he's giving me the worst version of the cold shoulder possible. We went from being really good friends to him wanting to only be my employee."

Des nodded. "So..." and he seemed to be choosing his words very carefully. "He cut you off, did he?"

"YES!" Moira all but wailed. "I mean, I know it was all my fault and I did something stupid and really, REALLY hurt him but, come on! Why does he have to be so stubborn? I really feel bad about it and I really want us to, at the very least, be friends again. Forget the sex!" and she paused for just a second as if getting distracted by her own words. "Well, I mean, hopefully, one day, when this is all far behind us, sex would be great but I don't NEED to have sex with him. I honestly do just want us to be friends again and not have this really stiff, uncomfortable professional relationship."

Des nodded and waited for her to continue. Finally, she looked at him and said, "Why can't he be more like you? I mean, I tried to sleep with you plenty of times and you never got all complicated."

Des couldn't help but chuckle. "For one thing, we never slept together, Moira. For another, me and Corso are fundamentally different do to our different upbringings. One thing I can tell you from when I was consoling him after Tatooine, he had deep scars and if you agitated those scars-" he just shook his head. "It might be awhile, Moira. Despite how physically and mentally tough he is, there are some ways and places that he is very fragile."

"Now you tell me;" she grumbled. "Couldn't you have mentioned this back then?"

"Don't take this personally, Moira, but that was between me and him. Besides, what exactly did you do to get him so upset with you?"

She was silent for a long moment before downing the rest of her drink and calling to the bartender, "Hey; another for me and whatever my big, buff, tragically handsome friend here wants, get him."

Des chuckled and waited. Finally, she said, "Did I ever tell you about the guy who stole my ship and all that?"

The Jedi Consular nodded patiently. "Well," drawled Moira, "we finally had our long awaited confrontation and it didn't go the way any of the three of us expected. First off, there wasn't a blaster fight. Second off, it was so far out from known space that the only thing visible was a huge black hole and an ancient cruiser. Finally," and she paused before muttering something.

Des frowned and leaned closer. "Sorry, didn't catch that, Moira."

"I might have possibly tried to seduce Skavak right there in front of Corso;" she muttered just a little louder.

Des groaned and buried his head in his hands. "Oh Moira, what were you thinking? You can't go playing games with that man's heart like that! No wonder he's all stiff, cold and distant. It will be a miracle if you ever get through to him again."

Moira groaned and laid her head on her forearms again. Des sighed and patted her back. "I don't suppose you know where he is, do you?"

"No;" came the pathetic, miserable, muffled voice from behind her arms. "Let me try and call him."

She pulled her comlink and cleared her throat. After quite the wait, he finally answered, "This is Riggs;"

Des winced. He could hear the tightness and formality in his voice. Moira looked pleadingly at Des and said, "I got someone here who wants to talk to you."

She handed the comlink over and went back to burying her face and looking miserable. Des cleared his throat and said, "Hello Corso; this is Jedi Consular Nedeser Thul. How are you doing?"

There was a pause and then the merc replied, "I've been better. I take it you've talked to the Captain."

"Yes but that's not what this is about. In truth, I've been meaning to get ahold of you and check up on you for awhile but realized that I never actually got your comm frequency."

Corso sounded a little more easy going. "Oh, that's alright. I have yours. Here, I'll just send it to your comlink. Um... where should we meet? That is, if you want to meet right now."

Des chuckled, "We'll go to the VIP lounge and talk. I'll meet you there in, say, fifteen minutes."

"Sound great. See you soon, Sir."

Des handed the comlink back, shaking his head. "Wow, you sure did a number on him."

Moira just gave a very pathetic groan. Des patted her back and sighed. "Well, relax and try not to think about it. I'm sure you've had plenty of time to beat yourself up."

She looked up and asked, "I don't suppose I can convince you to help me relieve some tension and stress, can I Des?"

The Jedi stood to his feet and stretched. "After Cademimu, you know better than that. Besides, maybe a little frustration will be good for you."

"Cruel Jedi;" she muttered and then downed her drink.

Des kissed her forehead and headed up to the lounge. Moira contemplated going to the blaster range and finding some stud to drag back to her ship there but, turning her head, she realized that she didn't have to go anywhere. There sat a very attractive young man - no older than his early twenties. He wore a set of pilots wings on his uniform. Clearing her throat quietly and changing her entire demeanor from miserable heart throb to seductive, sexy adventurer, Moira said to the bartender, "Can I get a double shot of Keagen's, no ice please."

The pilot shot her a glance and studied her before saying, "I'll have what she's having."

Moira smiled at him. He wasn't large or muscular but he had the most intense blue eyes with flecks of gold in them. His hair was full and perfectly cut and his face was to die for, not to mention that he filled out the uniform, even if he didn't stretch it to the max. "What do you fly?" she asked casually.

"Liberators - just got back from a fight in the Hydian Way. You look like someone who knows their way around a stick;" said the young pilot before blushing and stammering. "I'm - I'm sorry! I didn't mean it the way it sounded."

Moira could have squealed with delight. As fun as the more experienced, flirty men like Darmas Pollaran were, Moira had discovered that shy, inexperienced or at least more humble men were far more satisfying. She always had more control with them.

"Oh don't worry, sweetheart;" she said, taking his hand and squeezing it. "I know my way around _all kinds_ of sticks. Mostly though, I have a CEC XS Stock Freighter that I've modified to the point of being illegal."

His eyes widened with interest. "You don't say! My uncle had one of those. He used it to transport medical supplies for the Kolto Trade League. The thing didn't have a single weapon but, boy, was it fast!"

Moira nodded. "Wanna come by and see it sometime? I can show you all the modifications I made and maybe show you how good I am around a stick."

Her hand had fallen below the counter and was caressing his thigh. It was nice and firm just like she was sure it would be. He shivered and said, "Really? Okay, sure! Let's go!"

Moira hopped off her chair and staggered into him slightly, giggling, "Oops! Sorry. I've had a little to drink."

"Here;" said the young man, gallantly wrapping an arm around her waist and letting her lean on him. "I'll keep you from falling down."

"You are so sweet. I feel bad that you barely got to drink. As soon as we get to my ship and after I show you around a bit, I'll get you something really good to drink. Wow, I'm so terrible! I never even got your name."

"Treven Kials, Flight Officer First Class - but you can just call me Treven. It's less of a mouthful."

Moira giggled again and pressed against him. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Treven. I'm Captain Moira Denic but you can call me Moira. My, my, you're just firm all over, aren't you?"

Treven was blushing madly and didn't seem to know how to respond. Moira smiled and nudged him. "Hey, it's okay, Sweety. I'm not going to judge you or maul you or whatever you seem to be nervous about. Come on, loosen up! There is no room for insecurity or self consciousness aboard my ship."

Treven chuckled and relaxed, even gather his courage to 'accidentally' brush a hand against the cheeks of her round rear end. Moira gave a gasp and asked, "Do like that?" and she grabbed his hand and placed it firmly on her butt. Treven's blue eyes widened and he gave an experimental squeeze, causing Moira to squeak and giggled a little bit. "Well?" purred Moira.

"Wow..." said Treven. "You're really beautiful!"

Moira actually managed to blush. "And you are such a sweetheart. Come on. My ships this way."

They went down the turbolift and to the hanger that the _Soaring Dream_ was berthed in. Treven gave a low whistle. "She's a beauty. You kept her original paint scheme too. My uncle painted her this hideous orange color for whatever reason. I still don't know what he was thinking."

Moira smiled and took his hand. "Come on. Let's go check out the cockpick."

They hurried up the ramp and Risha called, "Hey Moira! What are you doing back so soon?"

When she came out, she saw the young pilot and said, "Oh, I see."

She winked and said, "High there. Better take care of her or else she'll eat you alive."

Moira rolled her eyes and said, "Don't listen to her. Risha's just trying to scare you so that she can take you for herself. Come on."

Treven was chuckling as she pulled him to the cockpit. With a proud smile, Moira set him down in the pilot seat. "Take a look but please don't power up and take off or anything crazy like that."

Treven looked over the modules and systems. They were state of the art and he pulled up the ships schematics and ran a diagnostic just to satisfy his curiosity. "Wow..." he said, completely engrossed in the ship.

Moira giggled and said, "Impressive isn't it? But this is just the hardware. These ships had a tendency to have the worst and most uncomfortable quarters possible and I changed those too. Come on, let me show you how I upgraded them."

Treven nodded, blushing red and grinning broadly. First, she simply showed him an empty cabin. It had a bed, a closet, a foot locker and a small fresher just like they all did. "But I bet that your quarters are even more upgraded;" said Treven as nonchalantly as possible. Moira smiled and said, "You bad boy! You want to see my bedroom?"

Treven was still blushing as he said with a shrug, "Just 'cause I want to see how extensively you upgraded your ship, of course."

Moira giggled and suddenly pushed him against the door frame. "Are you sure that's the only reason?" she whispered, before giving him tiny, teasing kissed on his nose and cheeks.

"Well I mean;" he stammered, "maybe I was hoping to uh... get to know you better - see how well you knew your way around a - uh - stick."

Moira smiled and said, "Oh, you won't find anyone better. Come on and I'll show you."

 **Warning: Mature Content Starts Here**

She cupped him through his trousers and Treven hissed in surprise. "Like I said;" purred Moira, "firm all over."

Taking him by the hand, she pulled him down the hall and into her private quarters. As Treven looked appreciatively around, Moira took off her duster and hung it up saying, "How about that drink, Treven?"

She sashayed over to the liquor cabinet and pulled out her best bottle of Coruscant scotch. This was, after all, an occasion of great importance. She needed what that young man was packing and needed it something fierce. Taking two tumblers, she set them on top of the cabinet and poured the drink. "You know;" she said with a breathy purr, "by now, most other men have me half undressed or are at least touching me. No need to be shy, Sweetheart. I'm all yours for now."

Turning to face him, she held out a glass with a sultry smirk. Treven took the glass, hesitantly wrapping an arm around her waist at the same time, being careful not to spill their drinks. They both drank before Treven set his down and said self consciously, "I'm kinda new to all this."

"That's okay, baby;" she purred, leaning up, "Like I said, I'm all yours."

She stepped back and set her glass down before unsnapping and untying her off-white shirt and shrugging it off. Treven downed his drink and set the glass down before swallowing hard and saying in a dry, hoarse voice, "You - you really want to do this with me?"

To prove the point, she stepped forward and began to carefully undo the fastenings to his uniform too. "I sure do, Treven, and why wouldn't I? You're handsome, you're clearly selfless at least to some degree or else you wouldn't be in the service and you tickle my fancy. "

She carefully hung his uniform shirt on a hanger before turning and working the undershirt free from his trousers and lifting it off. "Oh my;" she purred as she rubbed his stomach and chest muscles. "I'm liking you more and more, Treven. What else are you hiding from me?"

He didn't answer, his eyes seemed to be glued to her barely hidden breasts underneath a red bra. Moira bit her lip and purred, "Would you like to help me out with this, Treven? It clasps from the front."

She put her hands on the backs of her hips as Treven reached forward with shaking hands and unclasped the garment, pushing it off her shoulders. His big, intense blue eyes only got bigger when he saw the two perfect, pink tipped globes of flesh. Moira took his hand and placed it on one of her breasts, biting her lip as she did. "I like it when they're touched but please be gentle. They are quite sensitive."

As he caressed and kneaded her breast, Moira began working on his straining trousers, hungry for the object causing the bulge in them. "Moira;" gasped Treven.

She looked up, "Yes, sweety?"

He swooped down and covered her mouth in a kiss. At the same time, his arms wrapped around her and lifted her up, carrying her to the bed and setting her down before kneeling and working on her knee high boots. Moira smiled eagerly and began running her fingers through his short hair, purring as she did. "Not so shy anymore, are you?"

Treven just chuckled and said, "Shy went out the window when you let me grab your boobs. Can - can I taste them?"

Moira's stomach fluttered and she hissed, "As soon as we're both naked, you can taste whatever you want. I want that mouth of yours all over my body."

Treven grinned in anticipation and pulled off first one boot and then the other. Moira's socks followed that but when he went to start working on her trousers, Moira stopped him and stood up. "First one naked is on top."

Treven complained as he hustled to get his clothes off. "No fair! I have flight boots. They take forever to get off."

Moira giggled as she pulled her trousers down, revealing stunning long legs and her last remaining article of clothing - a silky red pair of panties. "I suppose you have a point. You were sweet enough to help me with my boots. But please do hurry. I'm so horny and I need you to come over here and make me feel good."

She sat back on the bed and spread her legs, using one hands to rub herself over her underwear while her other kneaded one of her plump, perfect breasts. Treven toppled over as he tried to wrestle one of his boots off. Finally, with a curse, he got it off before much more quickly doing the same with the other. His socks followed and then his own trousers. When he finally got his boxer-briefs off, he looked at Moira, only to find here gloriously naked and still rubbing herself. "Looks like I'm on top;" she purred but Treven wasn't going to complain. Moira halted her activities and crooked a finger, beckoning him seductively as she laid down on the bed. "Won't you come and join me, Sweety?"

Treven crawled onto the bed and Moira said, "Lie down next to me. What do you want to taste first?"

Treven started by kissing her, seeking entranced by testing her plump lips. Moira sucked his tongue into her mouth with a sultry moan and allowed him to push her down onto her back. The kissing was hot and heavy and their hands were everywhere. Moira took a hold of his erection and began to stroke as he began to lick and suck every part of her, starting with her neck, her shoulders and her collar bones. The moaning and purring he elicited let him know that he was doing alright to say the least. When she asked breathlessly, "I did tell you that my tits are sensitive, right? Besides, aren't they what you wanted to taste in the first place or were you just teasing me?"

Treven gave a mischievous smile and lapped at her nipples, causing Moira to gasp and arch her back, pushing her breasts more prominently into his face. Teven feasted on them, being sure not to be too aggressive so as not to hurt her. His right hand cupped one of them too, teasing the nipple his lips weren't firmly attached to and gently pinching and rolling it between his thumb and forefinger. Moira's moans and labored breathing continued to egg him on. Slowly, he moved his right hand from her breasts down her stomach. The very tips of his fingers ghosted over her flat, firm belly and, to his surprise, her moans and gasps of pleasure were interrupted by a series of giggles. What's more, she began to wriggle and said, "Treven, that tickles!"

"Oh so you're ticklish;" said the young pilot, grinning wickedly. To his surprise, Moira lifted both hands over her head and said, "I am quite ticklish. And, on occasion, the idea of being pinned down by a handsome young man and tickled to hysterics is quite attractive. What do you think, Treven? Can you help a girl out with her casual, kinky needs?"

Treven wasn't sure what she wanted. "What should I do?"

"Take one hand and pin my wrists and use your other to touch me. You can tickle me wherever you like but it's so much hotter when it's in a sexy place like my tits or the insides of my thighs or even my..." and she trailed off, spreading her legs suggestively.

Treven's mouth fell open and Moira giggled. "When I say the word 'hyperspace' stop and get ready, 'cause I'm going to kriff you so hard that if you don't pass out, you must be either super human or a Jedi."

Treven gulped in both nerves and anticipation as his hands touched the bare skin just below her breasts while his other circled around her wrists. She wriggled in anticipation and was already giggling like mad. Slowly at first, Treven gently brushed his finger over her soft, smooth skin. As her laughter became more hysterical and her wriggling became more violent, Treven became bolder. He tickled the slopes of her breasts, teased the nipples themselves and then went low, teasing the insides of her long, smooth legs before taking the plunge, ghosting over the very apex of her thighs, tickling her velvety lower lips. Suddenly, Moira shrieked, "Hyperspace! Hyperspace!"

Treven stopped and released her wrists and Moira was on him fast, moaning and kissing him while she stroked his erection. After a particularly mind numbing kiss, she said, "Stars above, you're going to get it now! You have me so riled up that if I don't cum as soon as your cock is inside of me, it will be a miracle!"

Treven groaned as she almost violently pushed him on his back and straddled his hips. After a few more firm strokes, she moved right where she needed to be before sinking down onto his thick member with a low cry, covering her mouth as her entire body began to tremble. Apparently, she was quite close to plummeting over the edge of orgasmic oblivion. Realizing this, Treven grabbed her waist and lifted her just enough before beginning to pound into her warm, wet, receptive body. He watched, utterly fascinated as her breasts bounced and jiggled. Her head was thrown back with one hand covering her mouth and the other stretched out for balance.

Treven's powerful thrusts paid off as Moira uttered a muffled shriek into her closed hands and her entire body trembled violently before she collapsed forward with a gasp, her arms supporting herself with her hands on Treven's shoulders. "Oh wow, that was intense;" she mewled.

Treven couldn't help but smirk, feeling very pleased with himself and not caring one bit that he had yet to climax. "Well, I'm glad that you enjoyed yourself."

"What do you mean?" gasped Moira. "You sound like you're leaving. We aren't done yet! Why kind of hostess would I be if I didn't make sure that you left my ship satisfied?"

"I dunno;" chuckled Treven. "Seeing you sitting up there with your back arched, your face flushed and your body trembling is pretty satisfying."

"Oh honey;" she purred, leaning down and brushing the hair out his face, "we are only just getting started!"

Almost tenderly, she kissed him, teasing the inside of his open mouth with a sultry moan. His hands began to explore her body again, massaging her breasts and kneading her ass and rubbing her smooth, molded thighs. It seemed that his caresses were enough to motivate Moira to action. Slowly, she began to working herself up and down his shaft, immensely enjoying the feeling of his manhood stretching her out again and again. Treven was gasping and groaning as her internal walls worked him spectacularly. Her flawless, soft flesh was molded to his hands as they wandered all over her being while Moira's hands were clamped on his shoulders.

Completely by accident, one of her hands tickled the underside of one of her breasts, causing Moira to giggle and try and brush his hand away. "Stop it!" she said, lightly slapping his chest. "No more tickling, you jerk! Just let me ride you."

"Sorry!" he gasped as she raised herself and dropped again. "I promise, that was an accident. This wasn't though;" and he reached up and kneaded her breasts again.

Moira gasped and moaned, covering his hands with her own. "I love it when you do that!"

Treven was losing it and losing it fast. This amazing, sexy woman was blowing his mind and all he could do was hold on for the ride. After just a dozen more thrusts, he was undone and even holding on for the ride wasn't an option. Even so, he was pleased when Moira screamed her head off again. Through his orgasm-hazed mind, he registered that she was trembling again. "Just when I thought it couldn't get any better;" sighed Moira.

"You can say that again;" murmured Treven.

 **Mature Content Ends Here**

* * *

Nedeser Thul and Alias Ordo strode aboard the _Telos_ , a Valor-Class Star Cruiser and the headquarters of the Admiral of the Fleet. "I never heard of a Jedi Master being a fleet admiral;" murmured Des to his close friend.

The Mandalorian Jedi shrugged. "Never have I but Jedi Masters have been generals and commanders before. It stands to reason that one or two decided to be an admiral instead. These are times of war - speaking of which, oh wise _Master_ Jedi and _Barsen'thor_ of the Jedi Order, I don't think I ever congratulated you."

Alias clapped his friend on the shoulder with a broad grin. "What is the council having you do now?"

Des was blushing from ear to ear. "I'm working with a group known as the Rift Alliance. They have qualms with the Republic and have even threatened succession. I've started by getting to know them and I think they can definitely be reasoned with."

"Well that's good;" said Alias as they got into a lift that would take them to the bridge. "Hey, I noticed a young woman taking a special notice of you. Who was she?"

Des frowned. "Who?"

"Oh come on;" chortled Alias. "Late teens to early twenties, very pretty with white and black face paint and white hair. She has big blue eyes that are straying towards you quite a lot, seemingly."

Des shrugged. "Oh, that's probably Nadia Grell, the daughter of Senator Tobas Grell. He's a good man and wants very much for this to all work out so that the worlds of the Republic will be stronger. I think he is probably the strongest voice of reason in the group. Say, wait a second! You were all happy and ready to praise me, oh great _Hero of Tython_ but let's give credit where credit is due. Well done and thank you for saving Tython. I also hear that your pseudo-padawan Kira was promoted to Jedi Knight. Again, well done, my friend. I haven't trained a padawan to knighthood yet."

Alias chuckled and waved it away. "Well, that's because Master Kiwiks did most of the work and I just gave Kira some badly needed field experience. She's a natural warrior and is quite inventive and clever. She's a great Jedi."

Des chuckled and nudged his friend's elbow. "Oh, is that all she is?"

The Jedi Knight's gray eyed glare was enough to let Des know to drop the issue and simultaneously confirm that there was definitely something going on there between the two of them.

Finally, they made it to the bridge and strode up to the command console. There, in a very small naval uniform stood a diminutive creature not even a meter tall. A lightsaber handle only slightly larger than a comlink hung at his belt. He had pointy ears and a ridged head. On each hand were only three fingers. With a broad smile, he bowed to them and spoke. "Welcome my friends. I appreciate you coming all this way. Do forgive me for not shaking your hands. My hospitality exceeds my reach."

Des and Alias bowed. "Greetings, Master."

"How may we be of service, Master Oteg?"

The small creature chuckled and said, "Before we begin, I want you to keep an open mind to what you're about to hear. The source of my information is... unconventional."

Both Alias and Des had experience 'unconventional' several times already. Alias chuckled and said, "A Jedi is prepared to receive information from any source."

"Such wisdom ones so young," chuckled Oteg. "Master Satele's faith is well placed. As a Jedi, you are already attuned to the force. But you must deepen your connection to see as I do."

He knelt and motioned them to do the same. The two tall Jedi knelt and took deep breaths. "Concentrate with me;" said the small master. "Focus your mind. Feel the force around us. Hear its echoes."

They obeyed, letting go of all other senses and stretching out, only with the force. At first, it felt as it always did, but as the stretched out more and more, there was something there. It was faint at first but as they focused on it, it became more clear. "Yes..." they heard the small master say, though his voice sounded far away, "the force is with us..."

The sense gained strength and definition until, before them was the ethereal form of a young woman. "She is here..." said Oteg, his voice now returned to normal. "A Jedi without physical form, her body long dead but her wisdom, her essence lives on."

Alias said in a quiet, awed voice, "My master died but his voice still speaks to me."

Oteg looked at him seriously. "One Jedi persisting beyond death is all but on heard; but two? These are strange, dark times indeed."

Suddenly, they heard her voice. It sounded as if it was at the end of an echoing hall or tunnel. "The darkness will consume all that it touches. Stars will burn black, ashes raining on lifeless worlds. Everything ends."

Suddenly, she seemed to look at them, her eyes pleading and searching. "The prisoner holds the darkness at bay, lost inside it for three hundred years. His strength will fail and then, he will become the darkness."

Des and Alias looked at one another. "This prisoner;" said Des, "has been fighting the Empire for centuries? How is he still alive?"

The figure began to pulsate and fade. Oteg looked at her almost sympathetically. "The bond weakens, my friend. I'll takes things from here."

Slowly, their grasp began to slip as Oteg pulled away from their effort. After what seemed like an eternity, it was just Des, Alias, Oteg and the oblivious bridge personnel again. "She's told me many things;" said Oteg, his voice sounding slightly weary. "revealed the existence of an Imperial prison in the ever shifting Maelstrom Nebula - and a way to get there. The only way to navigate the Maelstrom is with a Gree computer hidden in an Imperial fortress. We need that computer to free the Jedi prisoner."

Des and Alias looked at each other grimly. If this Jedi could hold back the dark side and survive for three centuries and was in danger of succumbing to it, they knew that, more than their current errands, they had to save them. Des said grimly, "We'll see it done. We will save this Jedi prisoner."

Oteg nodded firmly. "The fortress we're invading is on the planet Taral V. In Imperial territory, protected by enemy worships - too many to fight. But we have a captured Imperial shuttle that can sneak past the sentries. It's waiting for you in the hanger of this ship."

Alias lifted a hand. "There are a few people we need to convince to help us. Can we meet you back here in a few hours?"

Oteg nodded. "I think we have time - precious little of it but time none the less. When you are ready, go to the shuttle. Our fleet will hide at the system's edge so that I can monitor your mission and guide you. If something goes wrong, we will come running."

Alias and Des nodded before quickly turning away. "I'll get Moira;" said Des.

Alias nodded, "And I'll contact Dren. He normally goes to Coruscant when he's on leave but here's to hoping, right?"

"Right;" rumbled Des as they entered the turbo lift. If they couldn't get their two most talented and versatile friends to help, this mission would be far more difficult, nigh impossible.


	2. Chapter 1

The two Jedi headed towards the hanger where the _Soaring Dream_ was reportedly birthed. "Have you talked to Moira recently?" asked Des. Alias shook his head. "No, it's actually been a while. She was after her treasure and I was after Darth Angral. How about you?"

"I talked to her just earlier today. She and Corso had a nasty falling out and she's pretty depressed. Apparently, she liked him more than she thinks 'cause she was all miserable and moody when I met her at the cantina."

Alias snorted with amusement. "Poor girl. Who knows, maybe she'll finally decide to try an actual relationship for the first time since... well... you know. All this bed hopping must be getting tiresome."

They entered the hanger and as they approached the freighter, the ramp lowered and the hatch hissed open. Down it strode Moira and a young man in a Starfighter command flight officer's uniform. Alias and Des looked at each other. "Well forget everything I just said;" muttered Alias.

"Do you have to go?" pouted Moira sweetly. "I really enjoyed your visit and I'm going to miss you."

The fighter pilot, whoever he was, nodded sadly. "Yeah, I have to go. My flight group is being deployed to Balmorra. I'll miss you too. Who knows, we might meet again sometime."

Moira smiled. "I'd love that. In the mean time, you'd better take care of yourself Treven. If you die, it would break my heart."

Treven chuckled and they hugged before he hurried off. Moira watched him go before turning to face two Jedi with unreadable expressions on their faces. With a bright, happy smile, Moira hustled over and hugged Alias. "Hi you;" she said cheerfully. "Heard some great things, oh grand and glorious Hero of Tython. Nice work. You have every holo journalist on the holo net wanting an interview."

That seemed to crack his stoicism. With a smile, he kissed her forehead and said, "Thanks, honey."

Moira threw arms around each of her favorite Jedi in the galaxy and said, "Come on; let's go get something to eat and we can really catch up. Des and I talked but it was mostly me just feeling depressed and sorry for myself. Sorry 'bout that, Des."

"No problem; sorry I wasn't more help."

She looked up at him curiously for a moment before saying, "Well anyhow, congrats to you too. The supreme chancellor whats-his-name announced that the Jedi Order's 'wisest and most diplomatic Jedi Master'. He also mentioned that your were the Barsen- barsen-"

"Barsen'thor - it's a Cerean word that means warden or protector. Apparently Des here is only the second to ever be given the title;" said Alias.

Moira's hazel eyes widened. "Very impressive. Drinks are on me for the two Jedi heroes."

As they entered, the place was pretty busy. In one corner, all three of them caught a sight of Corso Riggs. He was sitting there nursing a beer of some kind, smiling and laughing as three different, very attractive, young women made bedroom eyes and batted their lashes at him, each vying for his attention and his affection - a soldier in a gray army uniform, a woman who was probably a contracted vendor or off-duty cantina worker and someone who looked suspiciously like a courtesan who was most likely just making her way from a far off planet to Coruscant or from Coruscant to another planet.

Alias and Des looked at Moira, who's mouth was open with shock. When Corso reached over and brushed a work-rough hand against one of the ladies' cheeks and she blushed, giggling coyly. Her mouth snapped shut and she cleared her throat before saying, "Come on; let's get some food and something to drink. I'm going to hazard a guess that you two are going to ask me for help on some super secret and important mission aren't you?"

"Why do you think that?" asked Alias with a chuckle. "Can't we just get together with a friend and catch up?"

Moira gave him a long suffering look before ordering food and drinks for all of them. That done, she turned to them and said, "Look, guys, I'm on vacation. I just got more many than I'll ever know what to do with and, frankly, I'm considering retiring from the business and just using my ship to visit planets I've always wanted to and enjoy my life."

"Right;" chuckled Des. "I'll believe that when I see it, sister."

Moira cocked an eyebrow. "You don't think I'd do it?"

"Nope;" chortled Alias. "You love adventure too much. That, and no matter how much you like to deny it, you are just too noble for it."

Moira was about to object then the food came. Before she could object, Des looked at her very seriously. "Listen, Moira, this is something that's big. It's so big that it makes Hammer Station and Cademimu both look like grocery runs."

Even Alias looked at him with mild surprise. "Des;" he asked quietly, "do you know who this Jedi is - 'cause even Oteg didn't seem to know who he or the Jedi Spirit was for sure."

Des looked grim and anxious. "I have a theory. Judging by the events of three centuries ago, I think I know who they are but I'm not gonna say just in case I'm wrong. I don't want to get any hopes up but if I'm right-" and he swallowed hard. "If I'm right, we might have a chance at winning this war quickly and decisively."

Alias and Moira glanced at each other. "And if we don't?" asked the beautiful smuggler. Des shivered at the thought. "Then the Emperor's power is going to grow exponentially and any chance of the Republic and the Jedi winning will effectively be gone."

Moira nodded slowly. She turned to look over at Corso and saw that one of the girls had left but the other two were pressing against him. It was clear that the big mercenary was in complete control while the two women were totally sauced. Gritting her teeth, she turned and said, "I'm in. Did either of you contact Dren yet?"

They shook their heads. "I got it;" said Alias, who stood and headed away from the noise of the cantina.

Moira looked back over at Corso to see that one of the women was whispering in his ear and the farm boy was blushing but also smiling. "It's funny how people allow there circumstances to change there character, isn't it?"

Commented Des. Moira glared at him. "Do I look like someone in the mood for a lecture, Nedeser?"

"No;" chuckled the Jedi. "You look like someone who's jealous."

"Damn right, I'm jealous;" she all but growled. "Now, not only are we not sleeping together and not friends, I have to suffer watching him flirt with women. You know what the worst part is? I absolutely realize the irony of this situation and I can't kriffing stand it."

Des snorted into his beer, managing to avoid spilling it only by sheer luck, and burst into his booming laugh. Moira glared between him and Corso as the mercenary took notice of them, seemingly for the first time. There was curious amusement in his eyes as Des gave a friendly wave. Corso lifted his half filled glass in response. Moira began to curse and mutter under her breath and Des chuckled again before sobering. For several long moments, they were silent. When he spoke again, Des was very serous. "Moira, do you want things to be better between you and Corso?"

"Of course I do;" she sighed. "At the very least, I want my friend back."

"Then can I make a suggestion?"

Moira knew what was coming. "I feel like you're going to whether I say yes or no."

Des chuckled. "If you don't want to hear it, I can keep it to myself."

Moira waited to see if he would just tell her anyway before muttering, "What do you suggest?"

"Stop sleeping with every- every-"

"Swinging dick that comes by;" said Alias as he sat back down.

Des gave him a mildly reproachful look and Moira glared at him. She glanced over at Corso and his two new friends and was mortified to see them stand up and start coming towards them, the two women obviously excited to meet one of them. "Hey Alias;" murmured Des, very amused. "you got two fans incoming."

"Oh brother;" murmured Alias as he stood with a smile to meet them.

"Master Ordo, I have a couple of young ladies here who would love to meet you;" said Corso. "I hope you don't mind;" said Corso, just a little anxious. He gave Moira a brisk nod. "Captian;" he said respectfully.

Moira returned the nod and glared at the two women as they gushed over Alias, who stood head and shoulders above them both. They shook his hands, blushing and giggling and hyperventilating ridiculously. "You are so amazing, Master Ordo!" said the young soldier, a private who had been following the work of the Jedi for awhile and been very excited to see glimpses of what Alias Ordo, the only known Mandalorian Jedi in centuries. "I've been following your work as best as I can - cause I have limited clearance - and you are my hero."

Des was chuckling quietly from his seat while Alias cheerfully and willingly tolerated as they gushed over him. "Can we get holos with you?" they asked.

"Of course!" said Alias. "It would be my pleasure."

They pressed themselves against him and used their data pad holo-cams to take the holo. Alias had his arms wrapped around each of them and smiled. "Thank you so much!" they said and gave him hugs before Corso ushered them away, still giggling and wowing them. "I can't believe your friends with the Hero of Tython!" one of them giggled to Corso. "That is so amazing. Are you close?"

"Eh, we're friends but we aren't _very_ close."

Moira looked like she was somewhere between shooting somebody and bursting into tears as Corso went back to his seat with the two ladies hanging off his arms. Apparently he had gained a whole other level of awe in there eyes. "He's doing that just to annoy me;" she muttered darkly.

Des shook his head with a chuckle. "I doubt it. If I know Corso, he expects you to move on to the next good looking guy and kick him off your ship for the newer model."

Moira gasped and said, "I wouldn't do that! He's my first mate!"

"Well you yourself said that you've done it before;" pointed out Alias.

She humphed and averted her eyes, muttering to herself. Alias and Des looked at each other, wondering if she meant that for them to here. After a pause, she said quietly, "I want to be different. I want to change and to heal. Not just for Corso, either. I want to be past the misery and the grief and the endless nightmare of loneliness."

Alias and Des looked at each other again before the latter sighed and pulled her into a hug. "I cannot even express how glad I am to hear that, Moira. I just can't. You admitted you have a problem and now you care."

Moira nodded her head, her cheek pressed against his chest. Alias sighed and said, "You know what you should do next, right?"

"Not sleep with every swinging dick that walks by?" she said, a weak attempt at humor.

Alias smiled. "In a manner of speaking, yes; for human's sex is different than for other beings. It means more to them and effects your emotions and your connection with people. This is going to be quite possibly the hardest thing you've ever done but-"

"You think I should stop having so much gratuitous sex;" she sighed.

Des nodded. "And for you, that is going to be really, really hard."

"But worth it if you follow through with it, stick to it and find someone special - someone who you can really love."

Moira glanced over at where Corso had been sitting. He and the ladies were gone now and she didn't even want to think about where they had gone to or what they were planning on doing. With a sigh, she stepped back and said, "Well the best thing to do right now is take my mind off of it so now what?"

"Dren should be here any minute. He said he would help as soon as I mentioned another mission. Apparently he misses us and wants to get off the _Meteor_ for awhile."

Alias was proved right as, presently, the broad shouldered, thickly built man strode down the stairs. He hugged each of them and clapped their backs. "So what is the nature of this critical mission of yours?" he asked.

Nedeser and Alias quickly explained and Dren nodded slowly. "Interesting. Like I said, I'm in. When do we leave?"

"First thing tomorrow;" said Des grimly. "Get rested up, make sure your gear is ready and we also need to gather wilderness survival gear. Apparently, we are going to land far out of the Imperial patrols on Taral V and trek in from there. It's going to take us two or three days. From there, it's going to be an unending fight with Sith and Imperials and stars only know what else."

Dren gave his trade mark grin and said, "Sounds like my idea of a good time. Alright, early morning it is. In the mean time, you guys eat?"

"Yes;" they all said and Dren sighed, "Well I guess I'm eating alone. I had to get off my ship for a bit. It would seem that a kicked a nest of Geonosians a little bit ago."

"Yeah?" said Moira. "How'd you do that?"

Dren winced. "I promoted Aric Jorgan instead of Elara Dorne as my XO."

They all looked at him blankly. "They really don't like each other and have very differing opinions on how things should be done..." and he paused before saying, "...and Elara and I may or may not have slept together."

Three groans rang out. "We can discuss this after the mission;" sighed Alias.

* * *

The following morning, they gathered together at the hanger where they would be transported over to the _Telos_ from which they would take off in the captured Imperial shuttle. Their friends were there to see them off. Aric Jorgan and Elara Dorne were there, as were Qyzen Fess and Tharan Cedrax. With them was Corso and Bowdarr and Kira and a small T7 astro droid.

Des shook hands with Tharan and, to everyone's surprise, bumped heads with Qyzen - pretty hard too it seemed.

Moira got a massive, furry hug from Bowdarr. When she came to Corso, she cleared her throat and said, "Take care of everything until I'm back, Corso."

"You got it, Captain;" said Corso. When Moira held out her hand, he just looked at it. At first, everyone present was sure he would completely spurn her and were totally surprised when he scooped her into a hug. "Just make sure you do come back, Moira."

She could have cried. Right then and there, Moira could have wept for joy. Instead, she simply nodded and smiled. "You and I are going to have a long conversation when I get back."

"I'm looking forward to it, Captain."

When all the goodbyes were said, the four heroes boarded the shuttle and it disappeared into the blackness of space.


	3. Chapter 2

It was dark when they landed and they could only safely move a few hundred meters away from the shuttle. Even with Dren's nifty high tech night optics, they didn't want to risk traveling too far in the night. There was no moon and no stars visible overhead. The clouds were thick and lightning flashed. There was no rain though and the air seemed dry. "Set up camp;" murmured Dren. "When it gets lighter, we'll move on. It's going to take us at least another day and a half to get to the fortress and that's if we book it."

Moira nodded and set down a tarp, lay her bedroll and blankets on top of it before folding it over. "We'll stop for five hours and we'll need to take watches, too." said Dren.

Alias lifted a hand. "I'll take first watch. Des, you want to take the one after me."

"Sure;" murmured the tall Jedi Master, looking around.

Dren nodded, plunked his gear down and put his back into the bowl of a tree. He took his boots off and unzipped the body glove from his feet but other than that, stayed in full armor. With a ridiculously content sigh, he leaned back and settled in to sleep. Moira snorted. "That's not even right. There's no way you can sleep like that."

"I can - if you pipe down and let me."

Moira giggled as she pulled her own boots off, her duster and the light body armor she was wearing off. "You never objected to me keeping you up before."

Dren just faux-snored, causing the other three to chuckled.

Lying there in just her combat pants and a thin tank top, Moira felt cold. When Des laid his thick gray robe over her, she asked, "Aren't you going to be cold?"

"I want to stay awake. This place makes me terribly uneasy, Moira. I can stay alert through meditation for the duration of this trip."

Moira nodded and decided to snuggle closer to where he was sleeping. For a long time, neither of them slept or meditated. Suddenly, Des rumbled, "What are you thinking about, Moira?"

Without even hesitating, she answered, "Corso and what I want to say to him, how I'm going to make things right, how I'm going to try and be a better friend to him and how I'm going to try and be more considerate of his feelings."

Des chuckled, "Who are you and what have you done with the real Moira Denic?"

Moira smiled in the darkness. "This is the real Moira Denic. It's her before she allowed her self to travel down the path of selfishness and self destruction and self imposed loneliness - at least, that's who I want to be."

Des nodded, pondering those words. After a moment, he asked softly, "What is it that you want, Moira? What exactly do you want?"

Moira chewed a plump lower lip for a moment before barely whispering, so low that Des had to use the force to enhance his hearing to catch it. "I want a real life. I want a life that I could have had years ago. I want friends and even, maybe someday, I want to feel what it's like to be loved by someone."

Des smiled in the dark. He scooted over to her until his leg brushed her shoulder which he then reached over and gave a gentle squeeze to. "Is this what an older brother feels like when his wayward sister is trying to make her life better? I think it is."

"Stop it;" laughed Moira softly. "I'm trying to sleep."

Des nodded and took a deep breath, allowing himself to sink deeply into the force. That's when he felt why he was so uneasy. This planet was steeped in the dark side, all emanating from a point kilometers away. It wasn't that it was even that strong, but after who knew how long, without something to keep it at bay, the planet had become covered by it. Des could sense the creatures of the planet all around being effected by it. None were near, thankfully, but even so, they would pose a threat and they would be aggressive. Trusting in the force to warn him and Alias of danger, he sank deep into his meditative trance.

Alias had much the same idea as his friend. Even as he was on watch, his eyes were closed and he was casting around with it, analyzing every single potential threat. He also analyzed his friends and was quite pleased to see Moira in the force. Her disposition, which had been gloomy and gray, was now just a little brighter. Dren's was always the same. It was steely silver - the darkness of a life of war still weighing on his being but not so much that it dragged him into darkness. Somehow, seeing the steadfastness of the tough soldier was comforting. When Alias looked at Des, he saw a bright and powerful light, no longer dimmed by the strain of shielding many from the powers of a terrible dark side master. When it came time to do battle, Des would be the stealthy, powerful, resolute warrior that he could be when he had to be, even though his main roll was as a diplomat and negotiator.

Then Alias turned inward and examined himself. Looking at one's self was not the same as seeing others. Others could hide their doubts even from those closest to them or from the wisest and most discerning. Seeing himself, Alias felt a self doubt. He was a Jedi Guardian, a warrior who focused much more on the physical and combative nature of the force. However, he was not as attuned to the spiritual nature of the force as his friend even if he was undoubtedly more skilled in the arts of war and combat. Sometimes, that made him worry that, if and when the time came, all of his skill might not be enough.

With another deep breath, he dispelled his doubts and fell headlong into the force.

* * *

They woke the next day and ate a meal of dense field rations. They weren't large meals but they were dense and filled with all the necessary nutrients. With them, they drank a fluid that would help their bodies stay hydrated and would also ward off their appetites. In a lose wedge formation, they advanced through the forests and gorges of Taral V. The day had come but it was just light enough for them not to need the night optics. All of them had their weapons in their hands.

Moira enjoyed the feelings of Flashy and Sparkles in her hands. They were a constant reminder of Corso. She had discovered that, before she had left, he had changed out the mods for newer ones, upgraded the enhancements, cleaned the blasters thoroughly and even put a new focusing crystal in Flashy. He had even changed out the triggers to make sure that they weren't getting either too loose or too tight. The weapons were as perfect as he could make them for her. Suddenly, she saw Dren halt and raise a fist, an indication for them to freeze. With another hand motion, he told them to kneel down and gather around. "Alright, I'm not exactly sure how far we've come but if that narrowing in the cliffs up there is any indication, we can't be too far from the very first of the enemies watch posts. Now, if these are anything like the ones I've seen before, they will have a portable long range comms relay and a squad of soldiers. If this place is as serious as Admiral Oteg thinks, they will be some of the Empire's better troops too."

"Not to mention," murmured Des, "that I can sense the local fauna getting anxious. There is a pack of vine cats of some kind trailing us. They don't like the presence of Jedi here."

Dren frowned. "I've been checking our back trail every ten to fifteen meters. I haven't seen a thing."

"Not surprising;" said Alias. "They're staying out of sight and even out of human hearing. We can sense them though. See that curve we just came around over there? They're waiting behind it."

"Great;" said Moira. "Let the record reflect that I _hate_ animals on creepy planets like this."

They all nodded and stood. "When we get to the post, we will hopefully be able to get a sense of their protocol for how they're watching the paths and organizing the security. Real quick, let's do a weapons check."

Dren checked his ridiculous repeating blaster cannon, a back up blaster carbine he had taken to carrying and his side arm. The Jedi checked their lightsabers and Alias checked a tiny thing, a comlink sized lightsaber with a blade that was a mere dozen centimeters long. Moira checked her blaster pistols and the scatter gun across her shoulder. "All good?" asked Dren and they nodded.

Wordlessly, they stood and continued on. Just as the tough soldier had suspected, there was a watch post with half a dozen Imperial soldiers on guard, including a set of mobile auto turrets. "Stang;" murmured Dren. "Getting close isn't going to be easy."

"Oh yeah;" murmured Des and then suddenly disappeared into thin air. Alias leaned forward anxiously. "Hey buddy, don't do anything too crazy here."

A disembodied voice chuckled and said, "Don't worry. I got this."

It turned out that Des was right. He had everything under control. Three of the soldiers were playing a card game around a fold-out table while another two went in circles around the camp. The last was at the comms station. It all happened very fast. Des cut down the three soldiers, snapped the comms officer's neck and eliminated the other two before they even realized what had happened. "Woah;" said Moira, shocked by his lethal force. "No knock out, no stunning, no stasis;"

"Des must really think that this Jedi is important and dead men tell no tales;" murmured Alias.

They all moved in as Des materialized near the comms station, examining it. "Well it seems that they just sent an all clear signal back to the fortress."

Dren nudged him to the side and examined it. "Okay so it looks like, judging by the history here, an all clear code is sent every hour and the code is changed every twenty four hours. This one was changed two hours ago. That means we have fifty-eight minutes to grab some distance between here and this place."

"Hold up, soldier boy. I have something that might just give us a little more time;" said Moira with a smirk. Cracking her knuckles dramatically, she leaned down and began working on the system. "Geez, these Imps use really simple systems for such an important base. Let me see, let me see..."

They watched with baited breath until she straightened up. "Done. We can go now."

They looked at her and then at the comms unit and then back to her. "So what did you do?" asked Dren.

"Oh I just sliced the system and had it re-transmit the code every hour. That will give us twenty-one hours, fifty-three minutes and a handful of seconds to get away;" said Moira nonchalantly.

Dren shook his head in amazement. "I keep forgetting that we work with a criminal."

"Yup;" said Moira with a smile, "but a very pretty and highly skilled criminal."

Des and Alias chuckled as they went and Dren said, "You know, you just manage to really turn me on right there."

Moira gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry; I can't help you there. Pick up the pace and walk it off, soldier boy."

They moved at a good pace with the Jedi turning back to check their back trails so much that Dren didn't even bother to check anymore, electing instead to look forward and check for signs of members of the Imperial garrison. They were perfectly silent for hours as they marched, afraid to talk in case breaking the silence would cause catastrophe. It almost seemed so too since disaster struck immediately after Des hissed, "Here come the vine cats. There are about eighteen of them."

They all turned and faced them. The gorge had widened enough for the snarling, scaly green creatures, about the size of full grown nexus, to surround them, snarling and hissing. The Jedi had their weapons ignited in their hands and Moira and Dren covered their flanks. Every living thing in the clearing froze for several long moments and the only noise was the thunder above and the heartbeats to those who could hear them. Then, with a roar, the monsters leaped. Dren mowed down four of them before they were half way to the Republic heroes. Moira got two and the Jedi each gripped three before slamming them into the cliffs on either side.

It's not that the skirmish was hard but it was anxious. The snarling beasts were fierce looking and gave off an aura of dread to their pray. In the end, it only took a few minutes to kill them all. "Is that all of them?" asked Moira, her voice trembling just slightly.

"So far, it would seem so;" said Dren, his own voice none too steady.

Des and Alias were staying ready as they cast about with the force. They looked like they were about to relax when they both blanched and whipped forward. "Contact front!" snarled Alias.

A gundark lumbered in. It was huge, the size of a young rancor. It's smaller arms were spread wide as it leaned forward on its much larger ones. Dren didn't waste time, arming the mortar that was mounted on his blaster cannon and fired a high explosive grenade. If he expected it to kill the gundark when it slammed into its chest, he was mistaken. The blast left a huge, painful and nasty looking burn but it certainly didn't kill it. The gundark staggered back but then charged forward at them. "Oh blast;" snapped Dren and opened up, aiming for the area of burned chest.

Moira holstered her blaster and pulled her scatter gun, standing on the balls of her feet, ready to leap to the side. The Jedi were moving as a single unit, leaping and charging in and slashing at the gundark before leaping out of its reach. The deep report of Moira's scatter blaster rang out again and again as she stayed in close, dodging the arms and blasting at its head at close range.

Alias, seeing that his friend was so close, flung his lightsaber and completely severed one of its smaller arms. Des had put his lightsaber down. Filling his lungs, he bellowed, "Hey!"

The monster turned to face him while Dren and Moira frantically reloaded their weapons. Des took a deep breath and lifted his hands. As he gritted his teeth, the gundark lifted into the air, screaming in fright and swinging its remaining limbs, trying to get a hold on the ground.

Seeing an opening, Alias moved. Faster than the human eye could catch, he charged and leaped, slashing through the gundarks abdomen. Moira walked straight up to the dangling creature, blasting away at it with her scatter gun and Dren opened up on its chest. It took longer than expected but with Alias slashing at it again and again, Dren blasting away at it and Moira doing the same, the creature slowly died. When it died, Des dropped it. Immediately, the other moved towards him but, to their surprise, he didn't even seem a little tired. "Woah..." murmured Moira.

"How're you doing, Vod?"

"I'm fine, why?" said Des as he brushed leaves off his shoulder.

The other two shot each other glances. "Can I just say," said Moira, walking forward with a big smile, "that I am really, _really_ glad that you are Jedi for the Republic, not Sith, fighting for the Empire.

Des chuckled and let her give him a hug. "Come on, Moira; I'm not that scary."

"No, you aren't but you could be if you wanted to."

Alias clapped his back and they moved on. Again, the Jedi remained on high alert with the force while the other two kept their eyes pealed and their ears open. Several times, they had skirmishes with more local creatures but it was hours before they came upon the next Imperial watch post. It was just as lightly guarded as the last. "Go get him, big guy;" murmured Moira, patting Des on the back.

Des gave a grim, if slightly amused smile and once again disappeared. It was the same as before. Des eliminated the troopers and Moira, all smirks and mock-arrogance, reset the code. They had much less time - only ten hours before the code would change. They shadows were getting long. "Apparently this planet doesn't have twenty-four hour days;" murmured Dren as he checked his datapad. "Nope; eighteen hour days. We should make camp and get a few hours of rest."

Again, they bedded down, taking watches and resting for five hours. When they were on the move again, Dren muttered, "What I wouldn't give for some basic satellite or star ship imagery."

They kept going until they came to a bridge. On it were a dozen Imperial soldiers four auto turrets and a pair of Sith. "Well that just makes things difficult." muttered Alias.

"I think you Jedi should lead. You can avoid death by blaster more easily. We'll follow up and take out the auto turrets. Naturally, you'll both engage the Sith and..." but something suddenly cut him off. There were twin roars as a pair of tall, ugly creatures suddenly leaped onto the bridge and attacked the Imperials and the Sith. "Never mind;" said Dren, standing and rushing forward. "This is our best chance."

The Jedi blazed forward. The auto turrets were blasting away at the monsters, leaving them open for the barrage from Dren's blaster cannon. The Sith were cutting the monsters to pieces. They were dead just in time for the Jedi to reach the Sith and for Moira to open up on the soldiers.

The Sith were skilled and well trained to protect the fortress. Even Des and Alias didn't over come them as quickly as they thought they would. The Imperial soldiers were dead and the turrets disabled by the time the last Sith fell.

They leaked around and noticed saw a soldier desperately speaking into the comms. "Shavit;" snarled Dren and pulled his blaster rifle, blasting the soldier. It was too late though. An alert had been sent out. "Well so much for sneaking in."

"Yeah;" muttered Alias. "We need to move. They'll probably send a drop ship of troops and have numerous patrols in the woods."

"Get ready;" said Des, reaching out with the force. "This went from infiltration to an invasion."


	4. Chapter 3

They marched quickly through the dark forests, their weapons held at the ready. Moira had to jog in order to keep up with the three men do to their stature. Even so, she kept up fairly easily. For the most part, they had been marching and hiding for almost twenty hours, doing their best to avoid the alerted Imperial garrison. They were only so successful, however, and had to engage in several intense skirmishes. At one point, Des reached out and grabbed a dropship with the force, yanking it down on top of a squad of heavy weapons Imperial soldiers. Once again, Moira said how glad she was that he was on their side.

In the end, they had to stop for rest, finding just a little cover in the side of a cliff. The soldier and the smuggler captain threw themselves onto the packed dirt and fell instantly into a deep, dreamless sleep while the Jedi each took three hours in a healing trance. The only reason they escaped detection was because, while he was meditating, Des used the force to bend the light, sound and heat around them to keep them from being seen, heard or picked up on heat scanners. After their much needed rest, the four heroes advanced again. It was only a few hours after that when they saw the spires of the fortress ahead of them between the cliffs.

"Oh boy;" murmured Moira nervously.

It was a daunting sight. The fortress looked like it could take a barrage from an orbiting star cruiser. "Come on;" murmured Dren, his own voice slightly strained. "We need to keep going. The sooner we get to the fortress, the sooner we can get that Gree computer and the sooner we can get off this creepy planet."

They made it a few klicks without being caught when they suddenly heard familiar snarls. "More vine cats;" muttered Des, and he was partly right. However, it wasn't just vine cats. There were four of the creatures and a group of Imperial commandos as well, including one officer who ordered, "There they are! Go get them, girls."

The vine cats charged with snarls while the Imperials spread out and took cover, opening fire. Dren and Moira did the same, engaging the Imperials while the Jedi leaped into force powered action. Faster than the average human eye could see, they slashed through several Imperials, the vine cats and Alias charged right up to the Imperial officer. He was quick, able to avoid a handful of the Jedi Knight's attacks but he couldn't forever. It was only a matter of time before Alias's blue blade cut him down. The remaining Imperials tried to make a tactical fall back but they didn't make it very far. Dren gunned them down before they could escape.

"Let's move;" growled Dren and they hurried forward. They expected to run into another patrol or defensive squad. What they didn't expect was to run into the outer defenses of the fortress. There were barricades, auto turrets, mounted anti vehicle turrets, barracks, paddocks and several other military facilities as well.

From a safe vantage point, they observed the fortress. "Well;" said Dren, "how are we going to be doing this? They're ready for us and we don't have the fire power to assault a fortress."

Des studied the situation. There wasn't really a gate so much as a gap in the wall with retractable barricades and heavily armed guards and a post where it was assumed that the barricades were controlled from. In front of the barricade were a pair of auto turrets and set up behind it were the large anti armor cannons. On either side were high walls with more turrets above it. Through the gap, they could see troops drilling and patrolling and war droids being charged or on sentry mode. After a long study, he suggested, "Alias and I can sneak forward and clear the gate. Then, I could come back and get you two and we can advance from there."

None of them had any better idea. Alias stood and said, "Alright, buddy. Get us there and we can clean out the watch post. Are those turrets on a three-sixty degree swivel?"

Dren studied them before answering, "I don't think so, no. I think they can go ninety degrees in either direction but I don't think they're able to spin all the way around. If you get behind them, you'll be safe. Even so, I'd cut power to them when you get behind them and after you eliminate the guards and war droids."

Des nodded and took a deep breath. Without a sound, both he and Alias disappeared. There wasn't even the sounds of their boots rustling through the grass or crunching on dead leaves. Moira and Dren watched silently. To break the uneasy silence, Moira murmured, "How've you been, Dren?"

"Oh, not bad;" said the tough soldier, "just glad to be off that ship for awhile."

"Really?" asked Moira, interested in her friend's life. "Trouble with the kiddies?"

"Something like that;" muttered Dren.

Now that, more than anything, peaked her interest. "Dren, what happened? Tell me!"

"I slept with my medical officer, Sergeant Elara Dorne."

Moira nodded, "Okay, and?"

Dren looked at her. "Well I then promoted Jorgan to Lieutenant as my XO. I thought he would be the better choice since he's been in the business longer, as it were. Since then, it just seems that things have been chillier on the _Meteor_. I'm hoping that things warm up while I'm away."

Moira nodded. Nothing was happening at the barricade yet. "You know, Dren, if Elara is mad at you, she isn't going to get over it just because you're away for awhile. Especially since you slept together, she's going to want to talk to you about this. However, from what little I know about her, Elara seems to be more rational than that. More likely than not, that chill you feel is all in your head - or from your XO. He's seems like a cold, steely individual. Does he know you slept with Dorne?"

"No - that is, I don't think so;" said Dren, a little nervous at the idea.

Moira laughed, "Oh I'm thinking he knows, dear. If there is a palpable difference in his already chilly demeanor, I'd be willing to bet he- hey, our boys are starting. Take a look."

Green and blue lightsaber blades flashed at the gate as two robed figures slashed through turrets and Imperials. Using electro binoculars, Dren watched as Imperials along the walls began heading in that direction. It didn't matter, though. A dozen or so extra troopers wouldn't make a bit of difference. "You know what?" he murmured. "Let's go now. The turrets are down and everyone on the wall is distracted."

"What about the auto turrets?" hissed Moira.

"We'll only be in range for a few seconds before we're beyond their sector of fire. Stay close."

They broke cover and loped towards the barricade, which was lowering. It seemed that one of the Jedi had gotten to the controls in the guard station. "They should start firing any moment now."

They kept running and no enemy fire was forthcoming. They crossed the barrier and met the two Jedi joined them. "Glad you made it;" said Des with a smile.

"Yeah, us too. Where to next?"

Dren pointed towards the fortress's citadel. "That way, further in. Stay sharp."

With lightsabers ignited and blasters drawn, they advanced. Every few meters, another fight broke out. Imperial soldiers began to emerge from the buildings in fire teams. Sith emerged as well but they weren't any match for the Jedi. Dren and Moira moved from cover to cover, blasting away at enemy soldiers. Dren tried to keep count of the enemies that he saw and then shot down but it wasn't easy. Dodging from cover to cover, stopping to reload his blaster cannon and knowing that Moira was bringing down at least as many Imperials as he was threw his count off.

Alias and Dren overwhelmed any Sith he challenged them. Even though it was quite clear that they were veteran warriors and very skilled, none of the Sith were any match for the two Jedi. Both Des and Alias had faced more dangerous Sith than the best that the fortress garrison had to field up to that point.

Slowly, they made their way through the Empire's outer defenses and clearing it out as they went. They had no choice since the entirety of the outer garrison was throwing itself at the Republic invaders. Just as it seemed they had worked their way through all the defenders, they came to what appeared to be the command center. Aside from another dozen or so Imperial troops, a large man with a blaster rifle exited the building. Rather than engage like his troops were doing, this Imperial officer went to a control console and opened up a nearby paddock. Out came a large, bipedal, scaly creature. It was at least four meters tall, had long arms and large hands and fangs in its large mouth. "Ripper," snapped the Imperial officer. "get them boy!"

It charged towards the Republic operatives and batted the two Jedi aside.

Neither of them were prepared for how resistant the creature was to the force. "I've fought these beasts before;" snarled Alias as he jumped to his feet. "The worst ones, the ones that Sith and Imperials apparently love to tame as pets, are resistant to the force. Not immune, just resistant. Moira, Dren, keep Chuckles here busy. Des, take care of the rest of those commandos. I'm going after the captain."

They moved into action. Dren opened up on the beast but its hide was tough. Moira pulled her scatter gun and waited for an opportunity to put as many blasts into the monster as possible. It did little more than the blaster cannon had. Des was having more luck as he polished off the Imperial commandos. Alias made pretty short work of the Imperial officer too. It wasn't long before all that was remaining was a very angry pet monster. Apparently it was intelligent enough to realize that its owner had just been killed and it roared, barreling after Nedeser Thul. "Oh blast it;" muttered the Jedi before leaping and rolling out of the monster's path, barely avoiding it's over-sized hands.

"Des!" cried Moira and lobbed a grenade at the creature. It was a grenade that, a second of it was activated, secreted a powerful adhesive, strong enough to make it stick to the next thing it touched. It stuck to the monster's chest and exploded. The blast was enough to knock it back, away from Des and also to cause a massive burn and shrapnel damage. Seeing the weakened hide, Dren opened up again, much as he had against the gundark. However, the creature turned away, protecting its injury with its tough, scaly back. While it made it harder to kill, the fact that the creature had taken eyes off of them gave them an advantage. Des disappeared and began to circle around. Trusting that he would be able to avoid it, his friends opened fire. Dren fired a mortar shell into its back. It only did a little damage but it did stagger the creature. Seeing this, Alias rushed forward and past the monster, slashing at one of its legs. It didn't sever leg but did cut deeply into it.

With enough force to cause the ground to shake, the thing toppled over with a roar of pain. Both Jedi leaped on it, trying to drive their blades into vital organs. Des was swatted aside but Alias managed to drive his blue blade into the creature's chest. It hurt the creature badly but apparently not mortally. Just as Alias yanked his lightsaber free, he was snatched up by the creature and, as it stood to its feet, it roared and made as if to bite the Jedi Knight's head off. A blazing green double bladed lightsaber slashed into its hand.

Alias fell to the ground as the Des's lightsaber returned to him. Hefting it like an ancient spear, the Jedi Shadow took aim and threw the weapon, aiming with the force. The weapon sizzled into the creature's chest several centimeters to the right of the other. As if it had hit just the right button, the monster fell to its knees with a cry of pain. The lightsaber was wrenched free and Dren and Moira poured fire into the creatures chest, aiming for one or both of the two lightsaber wounds. Most of them slammed into the tough hide but some managed to get into the open wounds, causing even more damage. As it had before, the monster turned away, using its tough back hide to defend itself.

Tired of the fight, Des and Alias leaped at its back and drove their lightsabers home. The force with which they struck the monster slammed it onto its face and chest. With one final whimper, the monster fell still. With sighs of relief, the Jedi closed down their lightsabers and clipped them to their belts. Dren ran up. "Are you both okay?"

Des and Alias checked themselves and, with the exception of a few bruises and cuts, found that they were perfectly sound. Dren nodded, "Good, but why did you two put your weapons up? See that massive bridge over there with the small army and emplacements on it? We still need to get across that."

He pointed to the large bridge that lead to the citadel of the fortress. On the bridge were layered defenses with auto turrets and laser cannons, Imperial commandos and Sith warriors all waiting to engage the four Republic operatives. With a sigh, the Jedi unclipped their weapons and made ready. "Call it, Captain;" said Moira as she switched out the powercells on all three of her weapons.

Dren stared at the bridge. "We don't have a choice;" he said calmly. "we're going to go straight through them."


	5. Chapter 4

It was an insane plan. There were no less than a hundred Imperials and Sith on the bridge, not to mention the various auto turrets and laser cannons. Even so, the four Republic operatives rushed forward with a fury that the defenders were not expecting. The Jedi swept dozens aside with a wave of their hands, ripping up the barricades and flattening the weapons emplacements. For a moment, it looked as though the Jedi would just swat all of the defenders aside. However, the Sith put a stop to that. Powerful Sith sorcerers were able to shield the Imperials from the force attacks and Sith warriors engaged with their crimson blades.

From there, Moira and Dren were forced to take cover and return fire. Wisely, the Imperial soldiers didn't fire on the Jedi since they were locked in combat with the Sith. They elected to focus their fire tactically on the other two infiltrators - for all the good it did them. If they tried to stay under cover, a mortar or grenade smashed their cover and usually them along with it. If they tried to keep Moira and Dren pinned with continues fire, either precise blasts from Moira's blaster pistols or a screen of laser fire from Dren's cannon cut them down. Large scale assaults with Jedi and Republic troops, not to mentioned armored and air support, they had been prepared for. A quartet of highly skilled, well armed and mismatched operatives were confounding their defensive layout, slipping by and precisely eliminating the defenders.

Des cut down first one and then the other of his assailants before blazing towards the Sith sorcerers. Three drew lightsabers and shot powerful torrents of force lightning at him but it was easy to simply absorb and return the attacks. Those that weren't consumed were cut down. Alias was engaging four Sith Warriors at once, utilizing a defensive form to weave a defensive web around himself, never striking until an opening could present itself without leaving him opening to attack.

Dren emptied his entire internal magazine of mortar shells, shredding another set of barricades and defensive turrets. As soon as he was empty, he dropped and Moira stood, whipping a specialized grenade that Risha had put together. It clanged onto the center of the bridge and the explosion was huge. "Easy, Moira;" said Dren as he slotted more mortar shells into his weapon. "We do need this bridge to stay in tact at least until we get across."

"You worry too much;" said Moira as she switched out the power cell on one of her blaster pistols before standing and emptying both it and its partner while she leaped from cover, slowly advancing along the bridge.

Dren grunted as he covered her and took advantage of the cover she provided. Slowly, they advanced across the bridge. Des was in a massive force battle with the Sith. His lightsaber was affixed to his belt as he and the Sith sent wave of telekinetic energy, force lightning and debris back and forth to one another. Alias wanted to get involved but he was still dueling two of the Sith warriors. Suddenly, a glowing sphere of energy circled Des and he floated slightly off the ground. Around him, anything not bolted to the bridge was ripped up and began to Des and the sphere he was in. Force attacks only caused the sphere to grow brighter and the force maelstrom around him to become even more turbulent. Alias cut down his last opponent and rushed for Dren and Moira. "Back;" he roared. "Get back! Go!"

They obeyed, turning back a fleeing the way they had come. Nearly a hundred meters away, they turned and watched as the glowing sphere became almost to bright to look at. Force lightning flashed in the maelstrom from one piece of debris to another. Suddenly, the sphere exploded outward and a wave of energy cleared everything within fifty meters in all directions of the center. "Woah..." said Moira and began to rush forward.

Dren and Alias were right behind her. There, at the center of where the maelstrom had established, knelt Des, gasping for breath. He was uninjured but winded. Slowly, he stood to his feet and pulled a ration bar and canteen of water from his belt. "Are you alright, Vod?" asked Alias.

Des nodded and swallowed his mouthful of water before replying, "Yes, I'm fine. I just need to catch my breath."

"What the hell was that?" asked Dren, still in awe of what they had just witnessed.

"An ancient technique that can be roughly translated as the maelstrom technique. It shields the practitioner and any attempt to use the force against them only strengthens their defense and adds to the swirling power of the maelstrom. I can see why the Jedi do not readily practice it. The power one could yield is intoxicating but if one were to lose control before he can trigger the blast, it would continue until someone powerful enough in the force could set it off. They would be consumed by the energy inside and they themselves would be a part of the maelstrom."

They were all silent before Alias asked, "And where did you learn this technique?"

"The Noetikans taught me the last time I visited Tython. Master Arca Jeth said that it would be useful when dealing with overwhelming odds."

Moira snorted. "But those odds were hardly overwhelming. By the way, Imperial reinforcements coming in."

The Jedi ignited their weapons again as six drop ships approached. Easily, Des gripped one and slammed it into the other. Alias managed to do the same and they easily eliminated the reinforcements. "Have you two always been this scary?" asked Moira.

"War changes beings, even Jedi;" murmured Alias as they advanced. "Sometimes, a Jedi is required to use more and more of his power if victory is to be assured. I can't help but feel that time is pressing. We need to do whatever it takes to save this prisoner."

"Whatever it takes?" asked Des cautiously.

Alias gave him a chuckled and said, "Well, okay, not whatever it takes but I think that pushing ourselves to our limits is definitely a must. Don't you agree?"

Des nodded grimly. "Yes, I do. Come no. We're almost to the fortress itself."

There were still some defenses set up but, for the most part, they had been recalled, leaving only a token defense to annoy the infiltrators. Dren didn't like it. "That display of power scared them, Des. They'll pull back and completely lock that fortress down. It'll be a hell of a fight from here on - unless you can wave your hand and make them all disappear."

Des and Alias both gave him a very serious look, so serious the Dren quailed slightly. But then they chuckled and Des said, "There are techniques in the force that can very nearly do that but we don't know them and their secrets are forbidden to all except the Masters on the Jedi High Council - at least, the ones that I've heard of are. Though there were a few techniques that were at least at a time, known to the Sith. Naga Sadow caused a star to go supernova for example."

"Des;" groaned Moira, "shut up! The idea that the Empire can do that is not going to help morale."

"Right;" he said, blushing madly. "Forget I mentioned that."

They continued forward and breached the inner walls of the fortress. It was a fight every step of the way. Imperials and Sith were firing from buildings, dropping from ships and running out of the citadel. The Jedi were forced to stretch to the very limits of their abilities. Waves of telekinetic energy, forks of force lightning, barriers of energy and lightsabers emanated from the small group, sweeping aside Imperials and cutting down Sith. War droids crumbled in sparks and scrap metal and even buildings trembled and some of the flimsier one's collapsed. Even when some of the walker units were brought on line, they toppled over like flimsy wood structures in hurricane force winds.

Dren and Moira learned quickly that there was no danger that would get passed their two highly skilled Jedi. At one point, while the others took a couple milliseconds to reload and catch their breaths, Des had them bubble in pure force energy. Missiles, laser blasts, force lightning and grenades bounced off or were absorbed in. "Are you ready?" asked Des calmly, not even a hint of strain in his voice.

Moira and Dren nodded and unloaded in two different directions. It took them over an hour to make it to the citadel's main door. Moira sliced her way and they entered, the Jedi backing in and deflecting enemy attacks as he went. Inside wasn't much better. Dozens of Imperials charged at them and the fighting was as fierce as ever. "This isn't going to thin until we have literally reduced the population of this fortress;" growled Dren.

As if to obstinately prove the soldier wrong, the defenders suddenly stopped coming. "Well it's nice to have a rest bit but I'll bet that they're setting up a solid defense. Whoever's in charge here finally pulled their head outta their ass and realized that they'll just get all of their troops and Sith killed and their droids destroyed. It's a good thing too. My blaster cannon's out of ordinance. I'm just down to my blaster carbine and side arm."

Moira blew a loose strand of chocolate colored hair out of her face and loaded the last power packs into her blasters. "Yeah, these are my last ones too. Give me a second real quick."

She retied her hair and then began to look around. Finding the best two blaster pistols among the dead, she holstered them under each arms and loaded herself down with power packs that went to them. No one else minded. They were all regaining their energy, eating ration bars and drinking water or energy fluids. Suddenly, Alias pointed. "Hey, look at that!"

They looked over and saw what appeared to be a security console of some kind. Moira ran over and began tapping at the control key pad. With a sigh of relief, she said, "Good, I was able to block this off before they could isolate it and..." she paused for just a moment. Finally, she grinned at her three companions. "... now I can control most of this fortress's systems. Let me see, power distribution, alarm systems, internal and external defenses, energy and ray shield barriers, door controls, pretty much everything. I'll just jam the door controls open, the energy barriers off, the defenses offline and the alarm systems-"

"Wait a second;" said Dren, "is there any way, perhaps, that you can have the alarms go off at different locations on timers?"

Moira frowned. "That's a bit of work but let me see."

She sat there with a frown on her lovely face and the others couldn't help but steal looks at her. She was quite beautiful. They were startled out of their staring when she suddenly went. "Hah! I did it! Every twenty-two and a half minutes, another alarm in an important, high security area is going to go off! The anti-air batteries, the main power generator, the fighter hangers - everywhere!"

Dren grinned. "Considering the chaos, they'll probably be going everywhere and even, if we're lucky, stay put for awhile. Any chance you can get into their communications too?"

Moira shook her head. "Nope. I'd need a comms console for that. We'll keep our eyes open but for now, we should keep moving."

Dren stood at attention and gave a salute. "Yes Ma'am, Captain Ma'am!"

Des and Alias chuckled and Moira gave him a severe look. "None of that now, Soldier."

With their weapons ready, they headed deeper into the fortress. "According to this handy dandy facility map I downloaded," said Moira as she looked at a datapad, "the quickest way to the command center, where I'm guessing we're assuming the Gree tech is, is through a medical facility- wait. Check that; a research facility. Lovely, nothing like creepy Imperial research facilities to make a mission that much more interesting."

All four of them pulled faces. "I hate Imperial research facilities;" growled Dren, looking angry and disgusted.

Suddenly, he stopped and lifted a hand. There was an intersection ahead of them. Across the intersection and just a little down the corridor was a set of blast doors with markings above them. "Well that's the research facility;" muttered Dren, pointing at it.

Moira nodded, looking uneasy. She pulled her blaster pistols and said, "A hundred thousand credits, a new ship and a real good bottle of Corellian brandy says that they'll be on both sides up ahead."

"No;" said Dren. "On one, maybe but not on both. They'd risk hitting each other in the crossfire. I don't suppose you can use that datapad to see if there are holo cams, can you?"

"Oh I know that there are holo-cams at every intersection but I would need to link up with another console."

They both turned to Alias and Des. "Jedi?"

Des sighed and disappeared. The other three waited. There were the twin _snap-hisses_ of a double bladed lightsaber and the whirring hum of it being swung, the crackle of it striking something or another and the dull thuds of them hitting the floor. "All clear;" came a tired voice.

They followed his voice and found an entire squad of beheaded Imperial soldiers and a pair of mounted blaster cannons on a tripod. Des looked exhausted. "Moira, the next time you get to a console, I think we need to make this fortress as hostile to the Imperials as it is to us. Is there any way you can set the auto turrets and traps to attack them and cut the power to everything else, such as the lights?"

Moira nodded. "Good idea, Jedi. Come on. Let's get through the creepy Imperial mad scientist lab."

Alias took the lead as they went in, his brilliant blue lightsaber ready. Inside were several scientists, two Sith, two squads of soldiers and a quartet of assault war droids. It must have been an important place too. There were massive vats and cylinders everywhere with creatures inside. As soon as the Republic operatives entered, one of the scientists, obviously the one in charge, began tapping frantically at his control console. The vats suddenly emptied and opened. Out crawled a dozen and a half jungle crawlers, also called lurkers on the prison world of Belsavis. They were slimy and looked deformed. With angry shrieks, they charged the Republic operatives.

The Jedi didn't even bother to move as their companions gunned down all eighteen of them. That done, the Jedi leaped between their companions and the Imperials, batting back blaster bolts at the Imperials. From behind the cover of their friends, Moira and Dren returned fire. The soldiers didn't last long and the Sith only did a little longer. When the scientists themselves began to open fire, they were also killed until only the doctor remained. He lifted his hands and remained silent. Moira looked grim, her hands shaking. One of her blasters was empty and the other was very low. "Give me one reason I shouldn't end you right now?"

The doctor didn't speak. Neither, to her surprise, did the two Jedi. They just waited at the exit of the research facility. Dren held his rifle at a low ready and waited. With a snort, Moira put one of her blaster pistols up and lowered her other to set it to stun. That's when the doctor made his move, reaching for what they assumed was a concealed weapon. He didn't make it. Dren lifted his blaster and burned a whole right through him from point blank range. Moira sighed and said, "Well these two are pretty much empty. Let's keep going."

Dren pointed to a console. "Can you use that one?"

Moira nodded and silently walked over, hooking up her datapad and tapping away at it. Suddenly, all of the lights went out. Immediately, low emergency lights flicked on. They were dim, barely enough to light there way. After another few minutes, she sighed, "Alright, just set up the defenses and traps to go off on anyone that alerts them. That includes us. The lights are so low that I doubt the Imperials will be able to see very much. I also basically locked all commands to my datapad. Without it, they won't be able to undo what I did. Give me a second at that comms unit. I'll be able to set my comlink to eavesdrop on their comms too."

The others chuckled and Des said, "We are in the presence of a genius, gentlemen."

They chuckled and prepared to move on when Moira staggered. That caused them to realize that they had been fighting for almost twelve hours straight. Dren sighed tiredly. "I hate this. We can't keep going to this degree. We need to find a place to rest."

Alias grimaced. "That's a really bad idea. We could be found and if only one or even two of us were alert, it could prove disastrous."

Des nodded, "That's true but if we keep going, it could be worse, Alias. If we just continue on, our two friends who can't call on the force are going to make a lethal mistake. We need to rest."

They looked over at Moira and Des said, "Any ideas, oh Mistress of the Facility Map and High Queen of Power Distribution?"

Moira smiled tiredly and said, "That's Supreme Empress of all enemy fortresses to you, buster. Let me see here; Ah-hah! There's a hanger nearby. We can hide out in one of the dropships or maybe something like that."

Alias sighed and said, "Alright, same as before. Des and I will meditate and each take a few hours in a healing trance. You two can get a few hours of sleep."

As fast as they could, they made there way to the hanger. Of course, they had to avoid the newly activated traps and a couple squads of Imperial soldiers, some miscellaneous war droids and four Sith warriors but they eventually made it. Before they bedded down in a dropship way back in the corner that was down for repairs, Moira cleared her throat and said in a perfect Imperial accent, "Command, the Rep operatives headed towards the armory. We think they may be heading for the main power generator to try and permanently drop power to the facility."

There were several confirmations. "Hopefully that will keep us safer for longer;" she said blearily.

Des smiled and said, "We'll keep alert. Get some sleep, Supreme Empress of all enemy fortresses."

"Keep sweet talking like that and you'll be my next consort;" she muttered. Seconds later, she was snoring softly.

Des and Alias were sitting back to back, the former in a healing trance and the latter, deep in a meditative state.


	6. Chapter 5

Several hours of rest made a galaxy of difference for Dren and Moira. They woke to find both Jedi deep in a meditative trance. It took only a gentle shake for them to be roused and, after a quick meal of ration bars and cold stimulant tea, they continued on, their weapons ready.

Moira tuned her comlink to the Imperial's frequency and listened. They quickly discovered that the Imperials had sent excursions out into the forests while pulling all forces back to the main communications center. "Well then," said Moira with a sigh, "I wonder where the Gree computer is?"

Dren looked grim. "Well let's go. Nothing to be served by sitting and waiting."

As they traveled, they came upon token groups of war droids and soldiers but they were easily overcome by the infiltrators. They weren't even a little shocked when they came to a large communications hub filled with technicians, Imperial soldiers and Sith. The Sith Lord who was clearly in charge, a lean, medium built, bald man, sneered at them as they entered and every weapon was trained on them. "Well done, Republic scum. You have walked right into my trap. Did you honestly think that the Gree computer would be in such an obvious place?"

Without a second thought, Alias fired back. "We just didn't think you were creative enough to set up a trap like this. Nice work."

As he did, Des turned to Dren and Moira. "Get to a console, slice into the security holo cams and find that computer. Once you do, come us and we'll meet you near wherever it is held. In the mean time, keeping this bald bastard busy will be our priority."

Moira looked hesitant but Dren nodded and said, "You got it, Barsen'thor. Moira, come on. This is a fight we won't be any help in and I've a feeling we're going to face enough trouble ourselves."

Apparently, the Sith Lord noticed that the Republic operatives were splitting up and said, "Captain, send your troops after those two who are splitting off. I'll take care of these Jedi myself."

A red lightsaber snap-hissed to life and he leaped across the room, over a line of consoles and attacked viciously.

* * *

Moira and Dren had their weapons ready and as soon as they caught sight of any Imperial soldier and war droid, they blasted away at them. Seeing only two Republic infiltrators, the Imperial defenders expected a relatively weak assault. When they were slammed by walls of blaster fire, hails of grenades and mortar shells and an enemy who just rushed towards them, they staggered to a stop before slowly beginning to shift backwards under the withering assault. By the time Moira and Dren reached where the defenders had originally made their stand, the two were able to run by, pursuing the Imperials with fire and fury. Suddenly, Moira grabbed the big Corellian's shoulder. "Wait, big guy. They needed us to find a terminal and locate the computer by slicing into the security cams. Well that's a security corridor right there. Come on. You can watch my ass while I do some slicing."

Dren couldn't help but laugh at her obviously deliberate choice of words as she sashayed over to the corridor and looked inside. Right there was a terminal. "Oh, this poor little baby is isolated;" she pouted before tapping away at the keys. With a grin that rivaled any Corellian's, she said, "Not isolated anymore. Let's see, let's see..."

She pursed her plump lips before smiling. "Alright, I'm in."

Dren suddenly let a rip with his massive blaster cannon. When he let up on the trigger, Moira asked in an amused voice, "Doing alright, Hon?"

Dren sighed and let his blaster cannon clang to the durasteel floor. "Yeah. I'm out of ammo for this one. Gotta resort to this one. Anyhow, we're clear for a... wait a sec."

Another series of blasts rang out. "Nope, we aren't clear. Look Moira, sweetheart, as much as I love watching your ass, you really should hurry with the peep cams."

Moira chuckled and suddenly gasped. "Got it. The damn thing has it's own chamber with a bunch of technicians that aren't even in Imperial uniform. Looks like it has at least as much defense as that chamber with the trap had."

"Great;" growled Dren as he shuffled aside so that Moira could blaze away with her blaster pistols. "Which direction are we going?"

"Towards the guys in the armor with the blasters;"

Dren actually chuckled. "Of course. I suppose that should go without saying considering our luck."

* * *

The Sith Lord, whoever he was, was at least as good as Darth Angral with a lightsaber and even more powerful in the force. He managed to keep both Jedi at bay with his weapon while assaulting them with sheets and storms of force lightning. Alias easily defended himself with his blue bladed weapon while Des absorbed and, more often than not, returned it with increased power. Even so, no matter what trick they tried or how they wordlessly coordinated, the Sith Lord was able to hold them back and return the assault. Suddenly, Des literally disappeared and Alias found himself alone facing the Sith Lord.

The bald man grinned wickedly. "It looks like he disappeared and left you with me like the coward most Jedi are."

The Sith Lord rushed forward and attacked. Alias found that, when it came to the mastery of the blade, he had this Sith beat. However, the Sith's ability to chain force attacks in lightsaber combat was going to overcome him if his friend didn't finish his trick.

* * *

Dren and Moira stood outside of the door to the chamber where the Gree computer was housed. "So, what do you think?" asked the latter casually as her blaster pistols charged.

Dren checked the powercell on his blaster carbine before deciding to change it out. "I don't know, really. How much power does that stealth field generator of yours have?"

Moira chewed a plump lower lip. "It will only last a couple minutes and if I move to fast, it won't be able to keep up. The Imps will be able to see my outline shimmering. Do you think that will help us?"

Dren frowned and said, "Yeah it will. Keep to the shadows and move as fast as you dare. Get to the darkest corner you can and get ready to fling grenades from there."

Moira hesitated for just a second before shimmering out of sight and hurrying away towards the darkest shadows of the room. By contrast, Dren strode in and began blasting away at the troopers and the auto turrets. Even though it was fully automatic, the blaster carbine did half the damage of Dren's favored blaster cannons. Very quickly, he was forced to take cover as his personal energy shield collapsed under a withering hail of laser fire. At the center of the room, a man wearing general's insignia stood with his own heavy repeating blaster cannon. On top of his over sized weapon, an energy shield shimmered around him and not even Dren's mortar shells could penetrate it. Clearly, it wasn't the same as his personal energy shield.

Moira was about to whip her first grenade into the fray when she noticed the defensive shield. Considering the punishment it took, she knew she would have to find the generator. Looking around, she saw what she was looking for - fixed to the ceiling of the base forty meters up. "Son of a shutta;" she cursed and set both her blasters to charged shot and aimed. With a huge kick, the blasters went off and her aim was true. The generator sparked, smoked and then the power core exploded, sending shards of metal and sparks cascading down to the floor below. Immediately, the Imperial general took cover behind a semi-circle of consoles, chased by Dren and Moira's blaster fire. Trying to keep him pinned, Moira sent torrents of rapid fire at the consoles when her blasters suddenly quit firing. "Blast!" she snapped under her breath and looked around. Her blasters needed to charge and she needed a weapon.

* * *

Des hissed in frustration. His attempt to kill his opponent using stealth had failed. The Sith Lord had seemed to sense him just before he struck. Only the most powerful Sith Lords he had faced had reflexes fast enough to do so. "I trained with Sith Assassins, Jedi," sneered the bald man. "There is just the tiniest tremor in the force when you prepare to strike, even when you use the force as a cloak."

So it seemed that they were back to square one. Suddenly, Des remembered his shielding technique, taught to him by the gatekeepers of the Noetikons, holocron technology filled with wisdom dating back millennia. Taking a deep breath, he exerted in the force, shielding both himself and his companion in the force. Now, as force lightning crackled and hissed around them, not of it touched or threatened them. Any that struck was deflected by the shield. Even though their opponent was powerful and his attacks were vicious, the draw on Des's strength was nothing compared to shielding almost a dozen Jedi masters at a time.

"What?" snapped the Sith lord as he sent a torrent of the lightning at the Jedi Shadow. Des didn't even bother using his lightsaber to defend himself as he advanced. "Shielding technique. Even your power won't be getting through this one, Sith. It's down to blades now and there's only one of you."

With renewed vigor, Alias and Des attacked and fell into variants of the Third and Fifth forms of lightsaber, Soresu and Shien. They were both defensive forms, designed to make an impenetrable defense around one's self while the opponent tired out and made mistakes.

The strategy worked. The Sith was using an aggressive form that burned his stamina even with the augmentation of the force. Even so, his skill was impressive and whenever he made a mistake in technique, he quickly covered and defended it as one of the Jedi attacked. The fight looked as though it wouldn't end any time soon.

* * *

Moira lobbed her last grenade at the sparking and burned out ring of consoles and dropped neatly onto the destroyed equipment, rolling down behind it and, hopefully, right next to the Imperial general who was using it for cover. A curse was heard and he came barreling out, laying down a daunting stream of laser fire. Dren was well pinned by it and, when the Imperial noticed Moira, he grinned wickedly and turned his fire on her too. Moira dove aside and ran as quickly as she could, taking cover behind the crumpled remains of a large, tripodal assault droid. It was only a matter of time before the blaster cannon chewed through the thick armor and inner wiring of the droid. A roar came from Dren and he blasted away at the Imperial general. Moira heard the bolts slamming into their target and the general gurgled and collapsed. Cautiously, she looked out from behind what was left of the droid and saw the Imperial lying dead. Dren hustled over to her. "You okay, Hon?"

Moira took a deep breath and said, "Oh yeah. Hey, look at that, my blasters are done charging."

Dren laughed and they headed up a flight of stairs to where the Gree computer was, surrounded by a large number of researchers. One of them, a young man, glared at them. "Republic butchers!" he spat. "You have invaded a sovereign Imperial world and slaughtered dozens of innocents to, what, steal our research? This facility is on a mission of peace. We're charting the Maelstrom Nebula for the good of all."

Moira just shrugged. "Surrender the technology you're using to navigate the nebula and you won't be harmed."

"Like the other personnel you spared? I'm no fool. When the rest of the galaxy hears of this unprovoked assault, the Republic's evil will finally be exposed. Your names will become synonymous with your government's extermination campaign against us."

Dren had been silent, scratching his scruffy chin and listening to the scientists rant. Moira glanced over at him questioningly. "What are you talking about?" asked the soldier.

"You're condemning hundreds of civilian sciences vessels exploring the Maelstrom Nebula. Electromagnetic radiation alters the safe navigation routes every moment. Without precise and timely coordinates, thousands of good people - innocent scientists - will be trapped there forever."

Moira shrugged. "Not our problem, just give us the computer."

Dren stepped in then, shooting his friend a startled glance. "But before you do, transmit coordinates to get them out of the Nebula. There's no need to condemn innocent beings to death like that."

Moira crossed her arms and shrugged, a surly expression on her face. The scientist looked back and forth between them for a moment before Dren snapped, "Transmit the coordinates! NOW! Before I change my mind."

"But our research! All that dangerous exploration will have been for nothing without a completed map."

Both the Republic operatives stepped forward with a scowl and the scientists sighed and turned to his console. "Transmitting the coordinates now. The computer is yours and I hope it breaks the first time you use it."

Moira still didn't look very happy as Dren went over and unhooked the odd looking machine from the console.

* * *

The Sith Lord had finally begun to ware down. His mistakes became more and more sloppier and sloppier and his response times slower and slower. Finally, Alias got through his guard and landed a glancing blow on his thigh. Nedeser let loose with a blast of force energy, which immediately caused him to stagger. His mandalorian friend glared at him. "Release the shield now, you idiot. The fight's almost over."

Des nodded as the Sith Lord staggered to his feet. Again, the Jedi were on him, battering him down. It was moments and Alias slashed him shoulder to hip, ending the fight.

Nedeser Thul was beat. He went over to a console and sat down on it, accidentally activating a beeping comms button. Behind him, a life-sized image of a very familiar, very unfriendly face appeared. Des staggered up. scowling. "Kilran!"

"You!" said the Moff, a small, amused smile on his face, "On my doorstep. Fortune has always favored me. But where are your two friends, Jedi? The soldier and the smuggler - Dren Antilles and Moira Denic; you never come on these particularly delicate and dangerous mission without them."

Neither Jedi answered and the Jedi Knight seriously considered ramming his lightsaber into the console, severing the connection. The Grand Moff continued. "You've all made quite an impression on the galaxy since our last meeting. Congratulations. Sadly, your victories end here. My fleet is about to bombard your position from orbit."

"We've made it through worse than a little fire and plasma, Kilran;" said Alias, his voice calm but cold and his durasteel armor.

"I don't think so. It has been a pleasure catching up and I wish your other friends had been here but you won't escape this time."

The comms cut off and the two Jedi were already in action. Des called Moira and Dren while slapping an evacuation alarm. Moira answered, "We have the computer and we're moving to secure and escape shuttle. I'm glad to hear you two are alive."

"Good move but you'll have to hurry. Grand Moff Kilran's fleet is about to shell us from orbit. We'll meet you at the shuttle bay."

They disconnected and Des turned to see his friend talking to Oteg. The diminutive master was urging him, "We can rendezvous in Republic space now go!"

As fast as they could, the Jedi bolted, making for the shuttle bay. Not a single Imperial soldier tried to stop them, all too busy trying to save their own lives. When they reached the bay, Moira stood at the bottom of one of the shuttles, motioning them over frantically. "Come on, boys, or you're both going to become residence here!"

Just as they made it up the ramp and Dren took off before the ramp was even sealed. Behind them, the fortress was pounded to slag from the dreadnoughts above and bombing runs.

* * *

Admiral Oteg smiled at them as they boarded his ship. "You cut your escape awfully close. Grand Moff Kilran destroyed the fortress just moments after you left."

They all nodded tiredly and Master Oteg slumped, suddenly looking much older. "We suffered heavy losses at Taral V - the Dantooine, the Serroco - more fighters than I care to count. But there is no time to mourn the dead. We must strike the Empire before the enemy bolsters its defenses."

"Woah, woah! Wait one second!" said Moira. "I agreed to help get the tech. I didn't agree to the second part of this. Isn't it something that a serious military operation should take care of?"

Dren, Des and Alias looked over at her. Admiral Oteg seemed surprise. "I was under the impression that you four were the best the Republic had to offer for missions like this. The reports and files on each of you are quite illuminating."

"You have a file on me?" Moira all but yelled, her hazel eyes wide in shock.

Dren said, "Moira, of course they have a file on you. And we are the best the Republic has to offer, Admiral. It's just that Moira isn't really an official member of the military or an official operative of any kind. We may need to go without her or find another operative."

The elderly master seemed disappointed. "I see. Well we have the Gree technology being hooked up and such right now. I suggest you all get some rest and some food. You will be contacted immediately when we are ready. You may head back to your ships or you can stay in the quarters provided on the station but please do not leave if you are going to stay with this cause."


	7. Chapter 6

Moira felt about a thousand times better than she had after returning from Taral V. She had eaten something and gotten a full seven hours of sleep and was now getting some breakfast in the galley of her ship. Corso had been conked out when she had arrived and she had been relieved. She was too tired to get into a discussion with him about anything. When she had awoken, he had still been snoring softly and she had been ever so tempted to crawl into the bed and curl up in his arms. It was so safe and comforting in the big farm boy-turned-mercenary's arms. But if he had woken, he would like as not ask her to leave and wanted to have the long awaited conversation.

Part of Moira was dreading it. Sighing, she pulled out some fruit and hot cereal to heat up in the warming unit. Mixing water and cereal, she put them in the heater and began slicing fruit while it heated up. As she worked, she hummed to herself one of the songs she had heard Corso sing quite a bit. It was her favorite song now, had been for quite some time.

While she worked, there was a loud yawn and a throat clearing behind her. There in the doorway to the galley stood Corso Riggs, stretching and wearing sleep pants and a ragged and stained shirt with the sleeves cut off. His dreadlocks were let out of their top not and dangling around his shoulders and, by the stars, he looked gorgeous. "Hey, Captain;" he said with a smile.

Moira put the knife down and went over to him. "Hey, you;" she said, hugging him.

There was still hesitation before he hugged her back but she still reveled in the embrace. "What's for breakfast, Captain?"

"I'm having cereal;" she said, still not letting him go.

Corso chuckled. "Captain, you deserve better than that after a successful mission. Put the cereal in the 'fridge unit and I'll make you a proper breakfast."

Moira smiled and wriggled with pleasure. "Thanks, Corso. That would be great."

As Corso began cracking eggs and pulling our breakfast meat, he asked conversationally, "So how was it, Captain?"

Moira hesitated for just a second before saying, "It was tough but you know how Des, Dren and Alias are. They made sure I didn't so much as stub my toe."

"Good, good;" said Corso, looking at her between his locks out of the corner of his eyes. "so why the hesitation, Captain? Are they all okay? Did something bad happen?"

Moira sighed and said, "Truth is, the mission was only part of a larger operation. We got a piece of tech from an Imperial fortress. The tech was a Gree computer that would assist in navigating a nebula. The others are going to use it to find a space station that is apparently holding a Jedi Master prisoner. Des seems to think that it's very important; like, decisively win or devastatingly lose this war, important."

Corso nodded slowly and sighed. After another few seconds of silence and after he had put eggs, nerf sausage and tubers on to fry, he turned to face her, a small smile on his face. "And why aren't you going with them? You know that they could use your help, Captain."

Moira looked away. He was right of course. "I don't want to get involved in a war. Corso, you and I, we're rich now. We could do so much out there, go to any world, help so many beings but if we get involved with the Republic, they'll want us to follow _their_ directives, go on _their_ missions. I don't want to live that way."

Corso nodded. "Captain, you and I both know that the Republic military ain't for you. You're too free-spirited. But we both also know that you ain't gonna leave your friends when you need them and right now, they need you something fierce."

She still refused to meet his eyes. A large hand gently tilted her head to look up at him. "Moira, you and I both know that you are _not_ going to let Des, Alias and Dren go on a mission like this without your help. It's not in your nature - not anymore. They're the best friends you and I got."

Moira looked into his eyes and resisted the urge to press her body against his and her lips against his. He probably wasn't ready for that yet. Though, he had called her by her first name for the first time in months. Progress.

"Now," he said, knowing that he had been right and that she was going to wind up heading off to catch up with the other three of the Republic's best, "when and where are you supposed to meet them?"

"Not sure;" sighed Moira in resignation. Just then, as if waiting on her decision to help, her comlink chimed. "This is Moira;" she answered.

"Moira, it's Des. Just in case you change your mind, we're going to be shuttled over to Admiral Oteg's ship in a couple hours. His task force will be heading for the Maelstrom Prison and while he engages, we'll be boarding the prison. Listen, Hon, we could really use you and you know it. What are we going to do without the Supreme Empress of enemy fortresses?"

Moira smiled and glanced at Corso. The big goof's lips curled into a knowing smile and nodded his head slowly and encouragingly. Sighing, Moira said, "I suppose I can come along. Force knows you boys would be helpless without me."

"Too true;" laughed Des, clearly delighted. "We'll see you there."

The line disconnected and said, "I guess I should get ready to go."

Corso chuckled. "You got two hours, Captain. That's plenty of time to eat a good breakfast and get ready. When we're done eating, I'll do maintenance on your weapons and pull some grenades from the arsenal. By the time you're ready, your kit will be too."

Moira smiled and said, "Alright. Now feed me. You took my cereal away so this food had better be stellar."

Corso gave a broad grin. "Isn't it always, Captain?"

* * *

Dren was eating his breakfast at the cantina. He had stayed the night in the quarters provided on the station instead of going back to his ship. As he ate, a being plopped down across from him. There sat Lieutenant Aric Jorgan. The Cathar soldier glared at him. "Well at least you commed when you got back and that's something but why didn't you return to the ship, Sir? We were all worried sick about you and had this whole return part planned!"

Immediately, Dren felt guilty. With a sigh, he set his fork down and said, "I just figured that-" but Jorgan cut him off with a wave.

"Captain, everyone on board the ship is aware that you and Dorne slept together and, frankly, I don't give a damn - or at least didn't until you started avoiding us. That is not acceptable and you blasted know it, Sir."

Part of the Corellian soldier wanted to dress his executive officer down for his harsh words but a bigger part knew that he was right. "You're right of course, Aric. I'm sorry. I was just worried about the whole promotion thing."

To Dren's surprise, the Cathar's eyes widened for a couple seconds and then narrowed. "You idiot;" growled Jorgan. "You think that Dorne is going to be pissed because you slept with her and then _didn't_ promote her? Tell me something, sir: is that how _you_ got any of _your_ positions in the Army? Is that how you think I got mine? Where the hell is your head? She knows perfectly well that I was most likely promoted do to time in the unit plus the fact that I was shafted after the members of Havoc Squad defected. That is why I was promoted, right?"

Dren sighed and said, "That and I know you best and trust you best."

"Exactly! Now she's pissed because she thinks that you're avoiding her - which you are!"

Suddenly, Aric stopped and looked over Dren's head before grinning wickedly. "I think it's time that I left, Sir. Good luck. You'll need it."

Dren didn't know what he was talking about until another figure had taken his place - a female figure; a decidedly _familiar_ female figure. "I'm glad I caught you before you flew off again, _Sir._ "

Elara Dorne was glaring at him and Dren knew he had about two seconds before she laid into him and he took full advantage. "I apologize, Sergeant. My actions were inexcusable."

That managed to stop what would have probably been a truly epic tirade. Even so, she glared at him and he continued. "I was a coward. I got inside my own head too much and assumed things that were counter to what I knew about you. I guess-" and he took a deep breath before continuing, "I guess I was worried that you would transfer out and I would lose my medical officer. I figured if I gave you just a little time-"

"A little time?" she said, her voice perfectly calm in that blasted Dromund Kaas accent. "You gave me several days, Sir. AND you would have given me more if I hadn't decided to come and find you. How much time did you think I needed?"

"Did it really matter? It was all just childish and cowardly excuses."

"Yes it was, Sir. Why did you run?"

Dren felt his eggs and pancakes suddenly form a lump in his gut. "I was afraid that you would be angry that I didn't promote you, especially-"

He trailed off. It sounded more and more stupid the more and more he said it. Apparently, Elara agreed. "Especially after we slept together;" she said, her voice very, very quiet.

Slowly, she stood and said, "Captain Antilles, I had no intention of transferring out but after this, I am seriously considering it. If you think so little of me that I would be upset about two completely unrelated things or upset about either one for that matter, you clearly don't know me as well as I thought you did."

"Elara wait!" Dren said, reaching after her. She stopped and turned back to him, one eyebrow raised. "You are absolutely right. I didn't know you as well as I thought and I assumed something that was completely wrong. I panicked and did something very, very stupid."

"I know all of this;" she said, her voice still cool.

"I know that you know but the point is that I know it too."

She considered that. "What we did together was not an attempt to buy a promotion;" she declared, slipping back into her seat and whispering.

Dren groaned and buried his face in his hands. "I know that. I never even assumed that."

"I never even really expected to be promoted over Jorgan considering his record and history with you. I still presented my case because that is what was expected of me. I'm surprised that you even took that long to decide. I figured it would have been an easy answer. I didn't expect you to freak out after you did so."

Dren was blushing and sighed, leaning back and rubbing his temples. As if unable to help herself, Elara curled her lip and asked, "Are Republic women like that or are all Republic men so dense?"

"No, they are not and no, just me;" said Dren.

After a long and uncomfortable silence during which Dren tried to think of something to say more than he had already said, she stood again and said, "I will be preparing the paperwork for my transfer. You'll have some time to evaluate your opinion of me and whether I should be in this squad."

"I don't need time for that, Elara;"

"Well take it anyway;" she said, her voice giving way from cold to hurt. "and you can assure me of my value in this squad after you get back."

Dren stood too with a sigh and brought his tray to the waste bin. He turned to tell her that he would when he noticed that her facial expression had changed completely. It looked concerned. "No matter the result of our little dispute, Sir, please do return safely."

The Corellian nodded his head and resisted the urge to take her hand. Before she had the chance to leave, he whispered. "I'm sorry, Elara."

She studied for a moment before saying, "Then prove it. Return safely and make your case."

And then she was gone, leaving Dren with a lot to think about.

* * *

Des and Alias waited at the bottom of the boarding ramp. Dren strode up looking very grim and distracted. "Hey;" said Des, "Everything alright?"

"We'll see when I get back, Jedi. In the mean time, we have a Jedi Master to rescue."

Des and Alias looked at each other uneasily but they didn't push it. Both Jedi trusted the seasoned veteran to focus on the task at hand no matter what was bothering him. As Dren trudged up the ramp, Moira jogged up with a bright smile. She seemed to be in a very good mood. "Ready?" she asked.

Alias and Des nodded and motioned her to go ahead. Moira laughed and said, "You two just want to stare at my ass, don't you?"

They chuckled as they headed up behind her. Alias said, "Nope. We just want to make sure you can't change your mind."

"No chance of that. I couldn't bare it knowing that my boys are off and in danger without me."

"A.K.A.: Corso convinced you that you should come with us?" commented Des.

Moira narrowed her eyes. "Are you reading my mind, Jedi?"

"Nope;" said Des with a satisfied grin, "just guessing."

"Good, cause my mind is a scary, scary place."

They were silent for awhile until Moira realized that Dren was lost in thought which was out of character. He was usually joking and laughing louder than the rest of them. Instead, he seemed to be intentionally stuck in the corner. With a friendly smile, Moira went and scooted next to him. "Hey, soldier boy! What happened?"

"I talked with Elara?"

That caused Moira to freeze for just a moment before she said, "And?"

"I need to convince her to stay. She threatened to transfer and I need to convince her to stay. She said I have until I get back to make my case."

Moira was silent for a long time before saying, "Alright."

He looked at her, frowning. "'Alright?' What does that mean?"

"Well that means you and I are going to discuss how to keep her with you. Isn't that obvious?"

Dren sighed and said, "I really screwed up, Moira."

"Well what did you do exactly?"

Dren explained his mistake, mentioning how he avoided going back to the ship, his discussion with Aric and Elara's ultimatum. Moira took it all silently before saying, "Well you sure messed things up, didn't you, Dren? Good news is, if Corso can consider staying with me, I'm sure we, that is to say you, can convince her to stay with you."

"But Corso is head over heals in love with you, Moira. That's why he was so hurt and why he's still staying."

Moira shrugged, ignoring the churning in her own gut. "And you don't think that Elara cares about you? Of course she does, Nerf! That's why this hurts her so badly. Now come on. What are you going to say?"

Dren looked miserable as he began thinking through how he would convince Elara to stay in the squad. His first few attempts were enough to make Moira grimace but then, with her guidance, he began to find the words he needed. They landed on Oteg's ship and Moira said, "We'll keep working on it during down time between now and then."

Dren chuckled and said, "And if she stays, I'll owe you one."

Moira chuckled. "You must really be falling hard for her, Dren. I almost feel jealous."

"I'm not really falling for her its just that-" but when both Alias and Des turned and joined Moira, staring at him with incredulous looks, Dren sighed and said, "Yeah, I wasn't even convincing myself at that point."

They all laughed and slapped his back as they headed towards the bridge.


	8. Chapter 7

It was a long flight to the Maelstrom. Most of the crew members, marines, fighter pilots and officers aboard the _Telos_ were very subdued and grim. It helped that the four heroes were almost jovial, laughing, joking and generally being in high spirits despite the seriousness of the situation. An hour before they dropped out of hyperspace, the call to man battle stations was sounded. Pilots ran to their ships, gunners to their batteries and technicians to their stations. The Republic marines were ready to repel boarders. Nedeser Thul, Alias Ordo, Moira Denic and Dren Antilles boarded an assault shuttle and prepared to board an enemy fortress.

Alias took the pilot seat and Des acted as copilot. "Why are you two flying?" complained Moira good naturedly. "I'm probably the best pilot here."

"We have the force;" said Alias dryly. "You may be better as a whole but we can see the safest flight path literally with out eyes closed and, trust me, this time, that will be important."

Moira shrugged and buckled in across from Dren. The big soldier was in his full armor with his favorite weapon, a blaster cannon and this time, he was determined not to lose it. The ship was powered up and ready to take off. As soon as the hanger gave the signal that they had dropped out of hyperspace, the fighters launched. When the first wave was out, Alias took them out. The enemy fleet was daunting. Imperial Dreadnoughts and frigates were in an impressive defensive formation. Moira gulped and said, "Are you sure you don't want me to take the stick?"

"I got it, Hon;" said Alias. "This isn't my first time in the pilots seat."

He was completely relaxed as he angled towards the space station behind the Imperial picket lines. "Arm the cannons, just in case;" he murmured to Des. The Jedi Consular obeyed and held his eyes shut, feeling the currents and eddies of the force. His mind melded with that of Alias in a trance that allowed the two friends to see and feel as the other did. Enemy fighters seemed to be more worried about the Republic fighters and capital ship than one single, solitary shuttle. It was smooth flying right up into they were in range of the turbo lasers of the dreadnoughts and frigates. The Jedi tensed and Alias banked and spun as a torrent of plasma and flack lit up the space around him. The shuttle's shields were middling at best as was its speed but with a Jedi at the stick, it didn't matter. Alias could see every clear path and every spread of enemy fire. As they bypassed the picket line and placed themselves directly between the station and the protecting ships, thinking that it would save him from a barrage of fire from both sides. It turned out that he was only half right. The ships ceased fire but the station opened up, turbolaser batteries blazing. The Imperials on the station were heedless of the personnel aboard the defending ships.

Alias remained as relaxed as possible under the circumstances. "There;" said Des, pointing out a hanger - one that was absolutely surrounded by weapons emplacements.

Alias nodded and angled towards it at top speed. "I hope that hanger is big;" muttered Dren, his voice remarkably casual.

Moira had her eyes squeezed shut and was gripping her crash harness as tightly as she could. "Just tell me when the ride's over;" she begged quietly.

Dren laughed and said, "Moira, what's your problem? You've done crazier things than this before."

"Yeah but usually I was in the pilot's seat behind the stick;" she said, trying to keep the whimper out of her voice. Dren's amusement did nothing to help her fraying nerves. Suddenly, the ship bucked and an alarm went off. Still not willing to look, she demanded, "What was that?"

"Oh nothing;" said Dren, his voice trembling just slightly.

The ship bucked again and more alarms sounded. "Dren;" she whimpered.

"We're coming in for a landing. Get ready to yank yourself free and abandon ship as soon as I say so!" Dren's voice was tight and commanding.

After what felt like forever, the shuttle gave a mighty lurch and they could hear the loud shriek of metal on metal. With a painful thud, it came to an abrupt halt and Dren was yelling. "OUT! OUT! OUT!"

Moira moved to obey, hitting her harness release and struggling out the boarding hatch. Des and Alias were right behind her as she stumbled out and the four comrades ran for cover, ducking behind a large stack of crates just as the shuttle exploded. Moira glared at Alias. "'I got it' you said! That there does not qualify as 'gotting it', Alias!"

"We're alive, aren't we?" asked the Jedi Knight as he stood and unclipped his weapon.

The hanger was empty, which didn't make sense. "They'll be on there way and this is a big station. There will be no stopping in here; no chance to hide. We go through to the prisoner and then we come back out. There are no other options here."

They all nodded and readied their weapons. "First move: find a console or computer and let Moira work her magic on it."

"No;" said Des and he pointed to the blast door leaving the hanger. "First move is to get through them."

They moved towards the door and Dren said, "Alright, Moira have a thermal detonator ready and slap the door release. I'll pour in mortar shells and lasers. Jedi, just make sure they don't hit us."

"Better idea;" said Des and used the force to hit the door release before he and Alias rushed forward. The door was only just wide enough for them to get through one at a time when they entered and were among the defending Imperial soldiers. The red and gray armored soldiers were not at all prepared for the two lightsaber wielding whirlwinds that cut them down with ease. Before the blast door had finished opening, the entire defensive squad was down and the Jedi were looking around. "If we can get to hanger control, we might be able to a console in there."

"Do we have the time?" asked Alias anxiously as he looked down the corridors to right and left.

"We do if it can give us the schematics to this facility or at least a general layout;" insisted Moira. Dren nodded in agreement and followed as she hurried towards another door.

The Jedi followed, frowning and looking uneasy. "You sense it too?" muttered Alias.

"Oh yeah, I sense it. This place is absolutely saturated with dark side energy. We'll have to be careful. What ever it is that the emperor has here isn't going to be like anything we've ever seen before;" said Des grimly.


	9. Chapter 8

The hanger control room had been everything they needed. There was a console inside which Moira used to slice into the entire station. Oh there had been safe guards and internal defenses but, much like in life, Moira found ways to slip in and get where she wanted to go with a smirk on her face and a twinkle in her hazel eyes. The personnel had already called for reinforcements by the time they had gotten into the control room and had refused to just sit quietly, insisting instead to attempt to fight, thereby bringing about their own deaths. Moira had shrugged and gotten to work and, just as she had finished it up, another squad of Imperials and a pair of Sith Warriors had charged in. Des and Alias were almost surprised to find that the Sith warriors who attacked were far more skilled than those who had been stationed on Taral V. They battled throughout the control room until Dren and Moira cleared a path through the Imperial Troopers. "Go on ahead and clear a checkpoint;" said Des. "We'll meet up with you."

The fight was quite vicious but it still became clear that the Sith were over matched. The Jedi had much more experienced in fighting Sith than the warriors were in combating Jedi. The armored and black robed warriors attacked viciously, encouraged by the Jedi's focus on solid defense. Unfortunately, that proved to be their undoing. Nedeser deactivated one of his blades and spun away, flourishing his weapon in a classic Makashi Form II maneuver. When his opponent pursued, the Jedi anticipated the overzealous attack, redirected a blow, slipped passed and neatly decapitated his opponent. Alias was engaging similarly, out maneuvering with the elegance of the same form, slashing the lightsaber hilt in two before piercing his opponent through the heart. Quickly, they dashed off after their friends, finding them at the entrance to another corridor. Inside a large command and control room was a small army of Imperials, Sith, war droids and what appeared to be tamed beasts waiting for them. "Well," muttered Des, "I recommend we don't go that way."

"Is there another way that we can go?" murmured Dren

Moira pulled up a station schematic and checked. "Nope; looks like any path from the hanger goes through that room."

"Great;" muttered Nedeser grimly. "Alright, I'm going in cloaked. Follow me in ten seconds. Alias, engaged those Sith and I'll join you after I take out those huge war droids. You two, just blow stuff up."

The three looked at him slightly amazed. Nedeser Thul was usually more subtle. Something about this mission had him anxious and altogether not himself. Alias, who knew him best, shrugged and said, "You got it. I'll start the count when you vanish."

Des nodded and vanished. Immediately, Moira whispered, "Is he alright?"

Alias chuckled. "He probably heard you - and yes, I'm sure he's fine. I just think that he knows who this Jedi master is and is anxious to see him rescued."

"Do you have any suspicions, Alias?" asked Dren as he loaded a powercell into his blaster cannon and a mortar into the under-slung launcher.

"No but Des is a amateur historian in his limited spare time. I'll be very surprised if he's proved wrong. Ten! Let's go!"

They charged out. Moira picked off an Imperial soldier with every shot as she dove behind a piece of equipment for cover and Dren shredded consoles and pieces of equipment with his mortar shells, completely emptying his weapon's internal magazine. Alias leaped and engaged all four of the Sith, cutting one down quickly and snatching up his lightsaber, using both blades to keep himself alive and his opponents on their toes. The war droids had Dren and Moira pinned down behind chunks of smoldering equipment that were slowly but surely be melted or blasted away. Suddenly, Nedeser Thul was there, slashing the war machines to scrap and blasting them with the force. As soon as they were clear, the soldier and the smuggler captain were up and firing again, slowly driving back the Imperials with a hail of blaster fire and grenades. The Jedi were fighting side by side and back to back. The Sith couldn't figure out which one they were attacking and one by one, they fell to the Jedi. It wasn't long before the Republic operatives were giving chase. Suddenly, Moira said, "Wait!"

They ran to the viewport and watched in horror. Another Imperial fleet had dropped out of hyperspace, pinning Master Oteg's force between themselves and the Station's Defenses. "Find a comms unit. NOW!" snapped Dren.

They all looked around but what drew them to the comms unit was a loud chime. Moira hurried over and answered the call. To their chagrin, a life sized holo of Grand Moff Kilran appeared. He gave a cold smile and said, "Oteg has spread his forces too thin. It will cost him his life - and yours. Darth Malgus will be pleased."

"I'm sick of seeing his face;" growled Moira, which caused the Grand Moff to laugh.

"Indeed? I'm starting to enjoy seeing yours. Perhaps I'll have my men take you alive for me to-" the communication was cut by Dren before he got Oteg on the line.

"Admiral, you need to withdraw before your are completely trapped. We'll find a way out. Go!"

The shaky, ghostly image of the Admiral looked grim. "We'll try to draw them away. May the force be with you all."

Unfortunately, there was no drawing away. Oteg's fleet limped away and jumped while Dren, Des, Moira and Alias watched anxiously. Once the last Republic ship was out of sight, they were able to breathe again. "Right;" snapped Dren. "Let's get moving. We have a prisoner to save. Let's go."

Wordlessly, they agreed. Moira pulled out her hand held holo projector and activated it. A holo image of the station appeared. Indicating two areas on the image with tiny red dots, she said, "We are here and I'm guessing that this is the prison area here. Take a good look at what's between here and there."

They did and it wasn't good. There were massive, open areas that had little to no cover unless they happened to be filled with boxes. There were numerous catwalks no more that a couple of meters wide and they all just knew that they would be fighting on every centimeter of them. "Alright, we had towards this lift cluster here right beyond this room. From there, we head up to the apex of the station. These open areas are going to be absolutely thick with Imperials and Sith so get ready."

The next two hours were the most grueling that any of them had dealt with before. Even Dren, who had waded through mud, blood, corpses and filth that always came with war, was feeling the burn of fatigue in his large muscles. It all became much worse when they went into what appeared to be a maintenance bay of some kind. A uniformed male cyborg, probably human, stood there with a pair of Imperial special forces marines. "Woah!" muttered Moira, "And I thought I saw ugly before. That man takes the cake."

Her three companions snorted with amusement. Des cast out in all directions but didn't sense any other beings. "This guy must be nuts;" muttered Alias, who probably didn't sense anything else either.

"No, he's not;" said Dren, sounding truly nervous. "Take a look at that guy. He's got implants out the airlock. His eyes, his ears, his arms, his legs and I would guess the majority of his organs, have been replaced. There are mods in his head that probably improve his brain capacity too. This guy here is going to be trouble. Those two marines - well, I can handle them. The rest of you, throw everything you've got at him."

They were within twenty meters of him when a red beam suddenly landed on Moira's chest. Frowning, she faltered and looked down at it. "Is that creep looking through my outf-"

"Lookout!" snapped Alias as, in one swift motion, he wrapped a long, wiry arm around her and yanked her out of the way just before a concentrated beam of laser energy sliced through where she had just been. Dren unloaded on the trio of Imperials, who all scrambled for cover. One of the marines didn't make it, four blaster cannon bolts slamming into him. The Jedi each leaped to partner up with their force blind friends, reflecting blaster bolts and concentrated laser beams back towards their owners. The second Imperial special forces marine went down when one of Dren's mortars all but dropped on his head. But the cyborg Imperial officer was proving to be a problem. Getting close, even for the Jedi, was proving difficult. He used a blaster pistol and seemed to be able to pull the trigger faster than was humanly possible and fired in the precise places that the Jedi found most difficult to defend, especially Des since double bladed lightsabers, while exceptional at defense and offense against lightsaber armed opponents, was less effective against blasters, especially rapid blasters. Dren and Moira fire blast after blast at the man but he utilized cover exceptionally. On top of that, on his arm, or maybe it was part of his arm, was an absorbing shield of some kind.

Ducking behind cover, Des and Alias breathed hard. "Blast! That guy is beginning to irritate me. Any ideas?"

Des looked grim. "Yes; force lightning has always effected electronics heavily, especially cybernetics. I'm guessing a good shock will at least slow him down."

Alias studied his friend. Nedeser had been delving deeper and deeper into abilities that were considered taboo by the main stream in the Jedi Order. "Brother, I know this is important to you and I do comprehend the importance of this Jedi Master if only because of how seriously you are taking it;" murmured the Mandoa Jedi Knight. "But if you begin to slip-"

"Alias, I am being careful, I promise;" assured the Consular. "I am not doing this because I want to or because it is easier. I'm doing this because we _must_ succeed. If using abilities that the Jedi council are leery of is the only way to do so, then we must. Believe me when I say that I don't do this lightly."

"We'll talk more about this afterward;" murmured Alias. "Just do what you have to do."

They both leaped up and Alias used a blast of telekinetic energy to shake the Imperial cyborg off his feet. It wasn't terribly successful since the Imperials boots, or maybe even just his feet, kept him planted firmly on the durasteel floor. It was enough, however, for Des to send torrents of blue force lightning at the man before he could bring his blaster to bare. As expected, the cyborg groaned in pain and seemed to freeze up. Des could tell that his cybernetics had been insulated somehow to help prevent excessive damage by electrical attacks. But whoever had built him had not counted on the kind of damage force lightning could do. Intensifying his attack only just a little, he drove the Imperial to his knees before cutting off the power. Dren stood and unloaded a massive barrage of rapid laser fire. By the he had stopped, the Imperial cyborg officer was barely recognizable. They all staggered over and looked at the mess of organic material and sparking machinery.

"We need to stop;" said Moira, leaning against Alias in exhaustion.

Dren hesitated before saying, "We can take a break for a meal but that's about it."

"I can barely move and I know you aren't much better, soldier boy;" objected Moira.

"I can dull out some stims that will neutralize the pain sensors in sore muscles while re-energizing them. It will increase the amount of oxygen the blood carries with each breath and pump of the heart."

Both Alias and Des looked unhappy at the idea. "They are also highly addictive and have a number of not so uncommon side effects. Let's try this: we'll eat and then Alias and I can try to use the force to dissipate your fatigue, soreness and such."

Alias looked at him. "Can we do that?"

Des shrugged. "Dunno; we can ward of pain and fatigue for ourselves and heal injuries so I can't imagine that we wouldn't be able to do it to others. Let's eat and then we can give it a try."

They dined on field rations - nutrient bars and fluids from pouches that were supposed to help retain water and add nutrients that the bars might have not contained. They weren't very filling and tasted like absolutely nothing but they took the edge off their hunger and gave them the nutrients and protein they needed. Just after the light meals, they felt much better but even so, Des said, "Lie down on your backs, you two. Alias, let's see if we can help them out."

Moira and Dren laid down and the Jedi each knelt behind their heads. Reaching out with the force, they used their minds as an information conduit to locate the areas of fatigue, soreness and pain and slowly alleviate them. Neither of them knew how long they were kneeling there but what they did know was that they were tired themselves when they were done. Dren and Moira took breaths of relief. "Wow..." said the smuggler, "I feel like I just ate a good meal and got a good night's sleep."

"We'll need to take a couple minutes to do the same to ourselves;" said Alias.

Back to back, the two Jedi fell into a meditative state. While they did, Moira stood next to Dren and watched them. "I'm worried about Des;" she murmured. "He's doing lot of dark and insanely powerful stuff. I've only ever seen Sith use those lightning attacks. Well, Sith and these two Jedi here. And remember that maelstrom thing he did on Taral V?"

"Yeah;" he murmured. "If he's right about who this is, it'll all be worth it. If not, he's going to be very disappointed."

"I dunno;" said Moira, "he might very well be relieved. It would mean that things aren't as serious as he was worried about. My point is that, if he keeps going like this..."

"I think that any tool used or, in the case of the Jedi, any power used for good isn't going to have any negative effect. But what do I know? I'm no Jedi. Let's get packed up and make sure our weapons are good to go. As soon as those two are done meditating, we'll need to move on."

"Yeah;" murmured Moira and she gathered the packages of food and such, her worries for her dear Jedi friend not the least bit allayed.


	10. Chapter 9

Nedeser Thul opened his eyes and looked at his two companions. Dren gave a wry grin. "He lives indeed. You alright, Des?"

Des stood and stretched with a yawn. "I'm much better than I was, yes."

Alias blinked his eyes open and yawned. "Much better. Alright, gang, let's keep moving. We have a Jedi Master to rescue."

Moira pulled out her hand help holo-projector again. "Alright, my darlings, here's where we're at. From here, we need to make our way to this turbo lift cluster here. Good news is that it isn't that far. Bad news is that they could still cram a ton of Imperials in that small area. Worse news that the lifts don't go all the way down to the main prison level, which is right here. So we'll have to go down to this level, fight our way across to this lift cluster here and take it the rest of the way down to the prison level."

"Lovely;" drawled Alias, jabbing a finger at the mid level they would have to traverse across. "And that's all catwalks surrounding power cores and energy regulators too. Outstanding!"

Des snorted at his friends sarcasm before pointing at another series of what appeared to be storage rooms. "Do we know what these are, Moira?"

Moira consulted her datapad, which had a topical view map of all levels of the station. "It says paddocks. That's it. Oh, and some of them are biology labs of some kind."

Both Alias and Des groaned. "Oh lovely. Twenty thousand credits says that a bunch of Sith Sorcerers practicing Sith Alchemy on some poor creatures and turning them into monsters that will help guard their prison;" muttered the latter.

Unable to help herself, Moira grinned. "I'll take that bet. My money says that it's just a bunch of friendly Ithorian scientists studying cute, cuddly animals. Anyone else want in on this?"

Despite the seriousness of the situation, the others couldn't help but laugh at her upbeat attitude. "Honey;" said Alias, "if there is even one Ithorian and one cuddly creature, I'll be beyond shocked."

"Well;" Moira said, "we'll never know 'til we get there! Let's get moving."

After another quick glance, they headed towards the corridors. Immediately, Des frowned. "What are we dealing with, Big guy?" murmured Moira.

"That's just it;" said the Jedi Master. "I was expecting war droids, Imperial soldiers, Sith and anything else they could throw at us. But I don't sense anything. There is nothing there! No one."

Alias shrugged, ignited his lightsaber and hit the door panel. There was nothing there. They could see the turbo lift cluster down the corridor. "Well damn!" muttered Dren.

Slowly, they advanced but Alias murmured, "They probably pulled them all to a position of strength down in the levels below. This ought to be good."

They piled into a lift car and slowly road it down. "You know;" murmured Moira, "the one's in Carrack Station and the government buildings on Coruscant have music. Is that too much to ask for?"

"Apparently it is;" snorted Dren.

"Uh-oh;" murmured Alias, mildly.

"Yup, get ready;" agreed Dren.

Blasters were prepped and lightsabers, ignited. As soon as the doors opened, Des lifted his hand and absorbed the storm of blaster fire that came at them by projecting an energy barrier outwards, giving them a chance to egress the lift car. Dren and Moira found pylons and columns to take cover behind. With a wave of his hand, Des send the energy barrier at them. Many of the Imperials took cover but those who didn't were flung back against the walls or their companions. The Jedi dashed forward, engaging the enemy and their companions followed, applying precise blaster fire around their companions. It was an easy fight. For whatever reason, there were no Sith in the defending groups. "All good?" asked Des as the last droids and soldiers fell.

They all checked and, finding everyone and everything whole, nodded and continued. Up ahead appeared an intersection and, beyond that, a large set of double blast doors. "Ambush;" muttered Des.

"Yup;" agreed all three of the others.

"Ideas?"

Alias chewed a lip and cast out with the force. "Well the good news is that they are only on one side, which makes sense since they don't want to shoot each other. They're on the right. Des, you got it?"

"Of course;" said the large Jedi Master before vanishing. The other three waited patiently for several minutes as they heard a pair of lightsaber blades igniting, startled cries, the sizzling and crack of the blade striking objects and panicked blaster fire. When the last _woosh, crack, thud_ was heard, they went around the corner and saw Des approaching, the hallway strewn with dead Imperials behind him.

"Glad that's not a problem anymore;" muttered Dren.

"Yeah well, it's going to get worse up ahead. Right beyond those double blast doors, the dark side is thick and strong. I'm guessing that we're going to be facing Sith and monsters and force knows only what else;" muttered Des.

"Well aren't you just sunny and cheerful;" drawled Moira as she changed out the powercells on her blasters, putting the two partially expended ones on a charger.

Des was proved to be correct just moments later when the blast doors opened. In the distance were a large number of power regulators and the energy snapped and hissed in the air. On the platforms were numerous Imperials and Sith. With them were the ugliest, angriest looking creatures. As they stepped onto one of the wide catwalks, the creatures began to snarl and roar. "Well," said Dren conversationally, "so far, no Ithorians or cuddly animals, Moira. Where's my twenty thousand?"

Moira pouted. "We aren't done yet. Besides, you don't think any of those death hounds are cute and cuddly?"

Again, they were all forced to grin tightly even as the first group of dark side altered monsters charged. They were many and diverse - dark side hounds, winged terrors and who knew what else, many of them almost unrecognizable from that their ancestor possible had been. Behind them, driving them forward were a series a beast keepers and Sith using force pikes and force techniques that whipped the creatures into a frenzy. The first several rows fell to blaster fire but the flying creatures were successful at avoiding the majority of it. They, however, met the blades of the Jedi lightsabers. Des and Alias scythed through them. With blasts of telekinetic and even forks of lightning, they cut the creatures down. Side by side, the Jedi thrust out their hands, thrusting out with the force and a powerful wave caused the creatures to tumble back, yelping and crying in surprise and pain.

Right behind them, the Sith and Imperials threw themselves into combat with reckless abandon. There was no coordination. There was not even the most basic level of teamwork. The rage of the beast keepers gave them stamina and strength, especially in the Sith. By contrast, Des and Alias were side by side, back to back, rolling around and over one another, often tossing and moving one another with telekinesis to the perfect place at the perfect time. Dren and Moira were picking off the remaining monsters and beasts as they tried to attack the Jedi but, due to the Sith and the Imperials near-biological hate of the Jedi Order, they two force blind fighters were all but ignored.

As it seemed the fight was beginning to end, there was a loud clang. At one side where the catwalk widened to nearly thirty meters and connected to a massive door, now open, was an energy shield. One of the tempos of humming died as the energy shield fell and out stepped a massive creature. It looked like it was a nasty, mutated and evolved version of a rancor but it had fangs and tusks and massive spines that stuck out the back of its head. A sharp intake of breath caused the other three operatives to look at Des. To their shock, he was pale. "Terentatek!" he gasped.

Alias hissed too and said, "Okay so what do we do about it? How do we kill it?"

Des shook off his fear and said, "Force attacks are all but useless against it. It has some sort of natural defense that no one quite understands."

"Okay so how do we kill it?" asked Dren impatiently.

Des chewed his lip before saying, "Last I heard, the only force ability that these things are susceptible to is beast speak - the use of the force to communicate with them. I think I can hack it but while I do, it's up to you three to actually kill it."

"And that's our only hope?" asked Alias.

Des turned to him and smiled. "I'm afraid so. You're going to be the one up close and personal with this monster while the others fire everything they've got at it." He turned to Dren and Moira and said, "You two be careful. I'm going to be pissed if you accidentally kill my brother."

Taking a deep breath, Des turned to lumbering, roaring beast and stretched out with his senses. The Jedi was expecting anger, hatred and a dozen other dark emotions. But the sheer level of pain, fear, sorrow and hurt nearly incapacitated him. Gazing at the creatures, Des felt a sudden, massive urge to heal this creatures hurts, to calm its fears and to comfort it for its sorrows but they were literally grafted into its genetic make up. Gritting his teeth, Des spoke directly to the creature. _I can help you, I can suppress your pain and calm you. Look at me. Focus on me and remain calm down._

And he did. Using the force, he dulled the creature's pain at least minimally and soothed its fears. It almost felt like a betrayal, even though the creatures intent to slaughter and feed upon the for Republic operatives had not even slightly abated. The hunger there was something that Des could not suppress. "Alias, get going;" he snapped before focusing back on the monster.

 _I'm right here, my friend. I can help you. Keep all of your focus on me. Come to me._

The first salvos of laser fire slammed into the monster, leaving burns that looked tiny against the terentatek's body. Alias moved in and rolled between its legs and slashed into one of its calves. When the Jedi Knight was clear, a mortar shell slammed into the side of the terentatek's head, causing it to stagger just a little. Even so, the creature was barely slowed down. _Lie down, my friend,_ urged Des. _We can end your suffering and misery and hunger._

To his surprise, Des sensed understanding and intelligence in the creature. It was not sentient but it still understood his meaning. As Moira and Dren reloaded their weapons and Alias circled, looking for an opening, the terentatek staggered toward Des and seemed to crouch down. It whimpered and Des lifted a hand. _You were born to hate me and to hunt my kind but is that what you want? Wouldn't you rather live and die in peace? There is much more to you than instinct and primal need. Open your mind fully to me._

When the creature's barriers lowered, Des braced himself and emerged himself.

 _There was a tank of nutrient fluid with what appeared to be the tiniest embryo. A Sith lord was muttering in a strange language and tendrils of dark side energy snaked and lashed throughout the room. It infused into the embryo and though there was no visible change, Des could feel, even through the memory, what was happening to it._

 _The world around him changed and the terentatek had taken its newborn form. It was already wracked with pain, hungry and scared out of its mind. From that moment on, it was starved, given only what little would keep it alive. It was tortured and trained to hate and fear and destroy and taught to hunt Jedi and renegade Sith. Finally, only half grown, it was brought to the Maelstrom Prison from Dromund Kaas and caged there where the cycle of fear, pain, torment and hunger continued until this moment._

When Des pulled back, he was staring into the bright red eyes of the monster. It still hated him and hungered for him but more than all that, it wanted its own suffering to end. Des had promised that. "Alias;" he said calmly. "Can you see its weak spot?"

Alias, using his rare ability to see the weaknesses and strengths in his enemies, whether it be their armor, their technique or their bodies, found a small area beneath the crest of the monster's head. A single thrust would instantly end its life. "I got. Stay back, you two."

With a single leap, Alias landed on its shoulders and thrust his brilliant blue blade.

Des felt the relief of the creature for the couple seconds that it could comprehend it before it died. To his own surprise, Des felt a thick lump in his throat and tears in his eyes. Clearing his throat, he said in a thick voice, "We need to take a break and eat some food. Drink water too. I need-" but the lump in his throat was growing too thick to speak.

His three companions were nonplussed. Moira went over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Des, are you alright, love?"

The Jedi laughed through his tears. "I will be. I'll explain in a second when I'm not blubbering like a child."

In the mean time, they followed his advice, eating rations bars and nutripaste and drinking electrolyte juices. After five minutes or so, Des cleared his throat and said in an only slightly husky voice, "I'm sorry about that."

Moira sat by him and said, "It's okay; just tell us what happened."

Des nodded and sighed. "I have never felt so much pain and suffering from any living creature. What those Sith Sorcerers do is terrible. I saw clearly into its mind and it has been in pain and in fear and in hunger its entire life. It never had a mother or father and the only interactions it had were with its creators and its handlers. They tortured it and starved it and made it hate its own life."

"Are those things sentient?" asked Dren quietly.

Des was tearing up again. "They are semi-sentient."

There was another lengthy silence before Alias asked, "What do you know about terentateks, Vod?"

Des wiped his face again and said, "Well let me think here. They were originally created by the Dark Lord of the Sith Exar Kun for war. However, he was just a little too good and even he couldn't control. So instead of unleashing them on the battle field where they would kill as many of his troops as his enemies', he dropped them on worlds where there were Jedi enclaves and temples or on worlds that were almost completely out of the war so that Jedi were required to go way out of the way of the battle plains to protect innocent people. According to a lot of xeno-zoologists among the Jedi, he starting with rancors and so completely morphed them that they are what we deal with today. Anyhow, after the end of the Great Sith War, there were still a lot of these creatures left. The Jedi Order sent out teams of hunters to kill them and the other monsters that Exar Kun had made."

"That's right;" said Alias, his interest peaked. "Shaela Nuur, Duron Qel-Droma and Guun Han Saresh were the three most notable Jedi Hunters."

"Yup. They had a long and successful career that ended in tragedy."

"Oh I just love dramas that end in tragedy;" said Moira. "Tell me more!"

"Well Shaela was apparently a beautiful woman and Duron Qel-Droma was a good looking man. They had formed a bond during the course of their hunts and fallen in love. That led to animosity between them and Guun Han Saresh. The animosity became worse when he walked in on them-"

"Oooohh! Scandalous! I like it!" said Moira gleefully. "Jedi getting caught in the act by another Jedi! I want details!"

Des frowned at her. "Details? What do you mean?"

"Details, Des, details! I want to know exactly what they were doing when this Saresh guy caught them!"

The big Jedi's face turned bright red and he spluttered, "I'm fairly certain that the historians and the like didn't give details of what sex position they were in when Saresh strolled on in, Moira."

"That's no fun. You have a vivid imagination. What do you think they were doing?"

Des sputtered, blushing even more deeply. "I have no idea! I'm not a sex guru! Why don't _you_ use _your_ imagination and get back to me later? Anyhow, the affair lead to Saresh splitting with them, going to Kashyyyk and dying there taking on a terentatek. Shaela and Duron went to the tombs of Korriban and found, not one, but two of the Sith spawn waiting for them. Duron was killed and Shaela fell to the dark side before she died too."

"That's just depressing;" muttered Moira. "Let's go back to the part where Shaela and Duron were lovers!"

Dren and Alias burst into laughter as Des shook his head. "You have a one track mind, Moira. Right, let's go."

They all stood, checked their weapons and headed towards the exit to the power regulation chamber. "What can I say? I've hit a dry spell and this idea really gets me excited. Come on, Jedi, you've never wondered at all or daydreamed about the sordid history of your order. Weren't there several Jedi who had affairs?"

"Yes;" said Des with a chuckle. "Revan was married to Bastila Shan. Ulic Qel-Droma and Nomi Sunrider had an affair before he fell to the dark side. Nomi was married to Andor Sunrider before he died. Apparently Meetra Surik had an affair with her companion Atton Rand, called 'Jaq' during his time as a Republic special force soldier. I could keep going."

"And you never wondered how Revan cared for Bastila's needs in private? Or what Nomi and Ulic did behind closed doors? You never wondered what Meetra Surik did to-"

"Okay!" said Des, shaking his head and blushing again. "that's enough. I don't deal in smut, thank you."

"Not completely true;" said Alias as he cast about. "When we were padawans on Dantooine, you used to write those little short stories. Jaesa loved them. Wait a second;" and he stopped and pointed directly at his friend. "Didn't you write one specifically about Shaela Nuur and Duron Qel-Droma?"

Des glared at his friend as Moira squealed with glee and said, "Are you serious? That is awesome! I need those stories! I need them because, until things are more stable between me and Corso, they are the closest things to sex I am going to get."

Still glaring at Alias, Des pulled a datacard from one of his pockets and handed it to her. Again, Moira squealed and was about to pop it into her datapad when Alias said, "Moira, I don't think the center of an enemy fortress is the place to read Des's excellent and highly secretive smut."

Moira pouted. "Fine. I'll look into it later."

Directly ahead of them was a set of double blast doors. Des had finally stopped glaring at Alias for revealing his secret hobby and was not looking forward towards the door. "Feel that, Alias?"

"Oh yeah;" he chuckled. "I feel it. You two should wait here."

"Yeah, that's gonna happen;" chuckled Dren. Moira pulled her scatter gun and checked its powercell, not even bothering to answer.

"Fine but be smart about this;" said Des. "No charging Sith Lords unarmed."

Dren just grinned. "No promises."

The doors hissed open and there, in the center of a strange control room/laboratory stood a male Zabrak. He was big and a lightsaber unlit in his meaty hands. All around him, war hounds circled and snarled, waiting for their next meal. "We'll take the animals;" muttered Moira.

"Sounds good;" said Alias.

"Get them;" said the Sith Lord, his voice every bit as savage as the snarls of his hounds. As they charged forward, a hail of blaster fire cut them down. The Jedi swatted the hounds aside and charged for the Sith Lord.

The Sith Lord was surprisingly skilled. Not only was he skilled, he was savage. Every defense was an offense and he drove the Jedi back. With a wild, force-powered shriek, he sent both Jedi crashing into a set of birthing pods. The Sith was about to charge them again when a massive torrent of blaster fire came in.

"Back off;" snapped Moira as she blazed away at him.

The Jedi leaped to their feet and redoubled their efforts. Des led with a telekinetic blast and Alias followed it up with a savage combination of lightsaber attacks that the Sith couldn't seem to keep up with. Another scream drove Alias back but Des was right there, renewing his own attack with the cool, calm he was known for. When the Sith tried the scream on him, Des simply absorbed the shock and slammed the Sith into his own birthing tubes with it. Even so, he was up and fighting back before the Jedi could finish him.

Moira and Dren watched as the savage combat escalated further. "Any ideas, soldier boy?"

"They'll take care of it;" said Dren. "Let's look ahead and see- woah!"

The Sith crashed to the ground between them. Fast and cool as could be, Moira drew and fired, burning a hole in the Sith Lord's head.

"Very nice;" said Alias.

Des closed down his weapon and said, "Alright so let's get to the lifts. We're more than halfway there."


	11. Chapter 10

The fighting grew more and more intense as they advanced. Even after Moira managed to reroute as many as she could via security console, there was still stiff resistance. The Imperials were sending as many security personnel and hardware as possible to intercept and stop them. Yet, it was all futile for the Imperials. Whether by blaster bolts or lightsabers, they fell or were forced to fall back to another position. Even so, they had been fighting for nearly twenty hours straight and, even after hiding out in a weapons blister for another break for meditation and easing the exhaustion of the force blind soldier and smuggler, it was becoming clear that they were losing steam quickly. The two Jedi spoke little expect to make suggestions or confirm them. Their eyes were bloodshot and, when asked about it, Des sighed and said that it sometimes happened when the force was used in access at long length. "It's one of the reasons some of the Dark Lords look like walking corpses that had been physically beaten to death."

Four hours after they gotten up from their second long break, they were coming up to one final barrier between them and what would prove to be the massive prison chamber. "You did great, Moira;" said Alias. "The resistance would have been a great deal worse if you hadn't kept them out of the way."

Moira nodded and took a deep breath and said, "I did what I could. Let's get this over with."

The blast doors slid open and none of them were surprised to see a Sith Lord wielding a double bladed lightsaber standing in an antechamber, three Acolytes with him. Several engagements before, the Jedi had stopped trying to convince their friends to stay out of such fights. Dren and Moira rarely listened as it was and it usually simply made them targets anyway. The Sith Lord didn't speak. He simply attacked. The Acolytes moved to engage the soldier and the smuggler.

Moira had discovered a few things about the Sith in her career as a smuggler. One was that she hated them, especially after meeting a very nasty female specimen of the religion on Tatooine named Vaverone Zare. That Sith Lord had captured and brutally tortured and raped Corso while Moira had scrambled around running an unwilling errand for the Sith Lord. The second was that each and every one of them were arrogant egotists who tended to vastly over estimate their own power and abilities.

During this mission itself, Moira had managed to end two Acolytes when they came in quickly and furiously by simply avoiding death on the blades of their lightsabers. They would sweep at her, usually without even bothering to use the force to enhance their abilities and she would manage to evade them and blast them after they fully extended their weapons. At several points, she had nearly been killed, saved only by one of her Jedi friends. This time, however, they were focusing on the Sith Lord. She was alone against her opponent.

When the Sith Acolyte leaped into the air, hoping to simply slash her down, Moira yanked out her scatter gun in one smooth motion and fired. The Sith managed to avoid some of the blast and deflect more of it but it was not easy to avoid or defend against a scatter gun when it wasn't expected, even for someone strong in the force. Some of the blast caught the Sith's arms and legs and Moira managed to roll out of the way before turning and sending three successive blasts at her opponent. With his extremities already injured, he only managed to avoid some of the first and second blast. A part of the second managed to catch his lightsaber, tearing it apart and shutting it down. That allowed the third blast to slam into the Acolyte's chest.

Dren had a much easier time. Dropping his blaster cannon, he pulled his blaster pistol and a vibroblade instead, taking a deep breath. The Sith was sneering at him and said something or another that Dren didn't really pay attention to. When the Sith slashed, Dren powered up his personal energy shield. It deflected the attack, surprising and Sith as his lightsaber was repulsed by it and caused the Sith to overextend. He didn't have the chance to call on the force before his shoulder was blasted, rendering his arm useless and stabbed him right through the lungs, slashing upward through the heart as well.

Both Dren a Moira brought their fire power to bare on the final Acolyte, blazing away at her with everything they had and running to make it more difficult to become a target for reflected blaster bolts. The sheer volume coming from two different sides overwhelmed the Acolyte and she caught almost a dozen before they stopped firing.

Des and Alias were trying to overwhelm the Sith Lord but it was like trying to pin down a greased cannok. Even though they were perfectly in sink with each other, this Sith Lord was able to stay just enough ahead of them. Getting tired of it, the two Jedi ripped through his force defenses and pinned him before blasting him into the the wall panels. The Sith Lord barely had time to stagger to his feet before Alias cut him down. Des looked around and asked, "All good?"

They all nodded. Moira sighed and said, "None of my blaster packs are fully charged - except for my holdout."

"Here;" said Dren, handing over his side arm and the spare blaster packs for them. "Now you're still fully armed. Let's go."

Moira smiled at her friend. "Thank you, Sweetie. What would I do without you?"

"You'd be fine;" chuckled Dren as he collected his blaster cannon. "Let's go."

The blast doors opened and before them stretched a large, open area with numerous catwalks and causeways stretching over a chasm. There were massive power regulators and converters humming and crackling around them. Within their line of sight, the Republic operatives didn't see anything or anyone - except, quite a distance away, what appeared to be a pair of pylons, one from the ceiling and one from the bottom of the chasm, pointing at each other. I tiny figure could be seen in some kind of energy field between the two pylons. "Is that him?" asked Moira quietly.

Alias and Des nodded, the latter murmuring, "I assume so. Let's go."

They cautiously, yet quickly, advanced. Suddenly, Des felt a tingle in the force. He looked around and saw it, a red dot square in the center of Moira's forehead. Without thinking, he ignited his weapon and pressed it in between whoever was shooting and Moira. A blaster bolt ricocheted off the blade. "Cover!" he snapped.

They all dove behind consoles and pylons as more blaster bolts came in. "They have snipers along the catwalks above and at least three not far from the stasis field the prisoner is in;" said Dren.

Suddenly, over an intercom system somewhere came a loud and familiar voice. "So much trouble for four Republic operatives; it almost strains credulity."

"Kilran;" sighed Dren.

"I promised Lord Malgus I would rid the Empire of you. This embarrassing farce ends here;" came the Grand Moff's voice from the intercom speakers.

They all turned to Dren. "What now, Soldier?" asked Alias.

Dren pondered and said, "Des, you'll take the catwalks that are above and parallel to the right of us. Alias, you'll be our forward defense while we move from cover to cover. Moira and I will keep steady fire on the catwalks to our right."

"Sounds good;" murmured Des and disappeared.

The others took a couple preparatory breaths and stood. Alias fell into the force and reflected the incoming blaster bolts, trying to send them along their original trajectory and hoping to take out some of the snipers. Dren and Moira were sending heavy streams of fire along the catwalks as they bolted from cover to cover.

Des cut down an Imperial every ten meters. One thing about snipers is that they were always tunnel visioned, focusing down their scopes. None of them seemed to be paying attention to them. In fact, he was over half way down the catwalk, heading towards the prison apparatus, when they finally began to take notice of him. It didn't matter though. Des was too fast. He managed to clear the entire catwalk and leaped down onto the main crosswalk. The Imperials had no idea what hit them as he slashed and hacked through them. Then he sensed it, the intense hate and loathing and danger. Whipping his weapon around, he caught a blast from the Grand Moff's sniper rifle. Retracting one of his blades, and using just the one since it made it easier to deflect blaster bolts.

Moira noticed that Des had cleared the catwalk and focused back on the other only to see that Alias had mimicked his friend's maneuver, rushing forward to clear the catwalk. Moira and Dren moved forward at a much quicker pace, covering one another as they did.

It seemed like they were only creeping forward but it wasn't an extremely long time before they caught up with their two Jedi friends. A last line of defense stood between them and the Jedi prisoner. "Alright;" growled Des, "time to end this."

Lifting his hand, he projected an energy barrier that caught and absorbed the blaster bolts. "Alias, blast away their cover. I want them to realize that they have lost."

Alias wordlessly complied. The crates and energy barriers were ripped from their positions and plummeted over the edge of the chasm beneath. The Imperials staggered back and, using the force to project his voice, Des commanded, "Drop your weapons. I will give you all a chance to flee into the facility."

Most of them complied but there were still eight who opened fire on the Republic operatives. The last fight was very, very short. Kilran fired again and again, his face covered in a fierce scowl. He fired on the two who weren't Jedi - the soldier and the smuggler, forcing them to either stay pinned or lose their friends. Everyone knew that Jedi, for all their preaching and sermonizing against attachment, these two protected the other two fiercely, giving the Moff room to breath and develop a plan. Of course, that ended when the catwalk behind him was suddenly shredded by a massive invisible force. A blast bolt slammed into his right shoulder. He was dead. Grand Moff Kilran knew that he was going to die.

Cautiously, they approached, keeping him covered. "I don't deserve this;" hissed the Moff through his teeth. "There was so much left to conquer."

Before the Jedi could stop either of them, Dren and Moira blasted him. The Butcher of Coruscant died in his own fortress with his last thoughts containing his own shame and failure.

Quickly, Des ran over to the prison control console and examined it. Hitting a few switches, he was pleased to see the stasis field disappear. From where he had been suspended, a tall man with black hair, in armored robes and with a very scarred face, fell to the ground. He crumpled first to his knees and then onto his chest, his breathing labored. Carefully, Des leaped up and lifted the Jedi Master before dropping back down and setting him on the durasteel beneath them. At first, it seemed the the Jedi prisoner had fallen into unconsciousness but almost immediately, as the others gathered around, he began to stir. "Where..." he gasped as he slowly pulled himself into a sitting position. "What's happened?"

As he rose unsteadily to his feet, Alias and Moira lent him support. Suddenly, he stiffened, "I can feel... no... NO!"

Looking at his rescuers with anxiety in his brown eyes, he demanded, "What have you done? There's nothing to restrain him now."

Frowning, Des soothingly lifted his hands. "You were the one being restrained, Master."

Seeming to calm slightly, the former prisoner said, "My struggle held the Emperor in check. How did you find me?"

Suddenly, there was a sense in the force and a shimmering vision of a beautiful woman of short stature appeared. She was smiling and said, "Your strength fails. You must be free, or all is lost."

The man smiled sadly and said, "You should be one with the force, finally at peace."

"No peace while you suffer. The Emperor drowns you in black waters."

The Jedi prisoner was slow in responding. He wants me to be Darth Revan again, to serve him as I did years ago."

Des began to shiver and he bowed. "Master Revan, it is the greatest honor."

Alias followed in suit but Moira and Dren were trying to figure out who this one-time Darth Revan was talking to and what he was talking about. Alias murmured to them, "The holo records tell that Darth Revan brought the Republic to his knees as a Sith Lord and saved it as a Jedi."

"They also report that you're dead, Master;" said Des.

Revan shivered and said in a low voice, "I am dead... and reborn... Jedi and Sith. Many life times. I lead my allies to the galaxies edge to destroy the Emperor. We didn't understand his true power. I lost everything, betrayed from within. The Emperor imprisoned me, kept me alive with Sith alchemy and used me."

Moira carefully crept over to Nedeser. "Is he alright?" she asked in concern.

"Probably just a little disoriented;" replied the Jedi Shadow before turning to the ancient master. "Your friend denies the forces will to stay with you, to help you."

The apparition, unseen by Moira and Dren, smiled wider and nodded her head. Revan returned the smile. "It was she who gave me strength to resist all this time. I didn't realize that until now."

His mood seemed to darken again and he began to pace. "The Emperor used me as a link to the light side of the force and the Jedi Order. Through me, he saw visions. But that same link also gave me influence. I convinced the Emperor that peace was in his best interest. I tempered his hate."

The apparition shook her head. "The peace is lost. The Emperor makes his final war. Stop him! Flee this place while you can. Use the enemy's vessels."

With that and one last smile, she closed her eyes and faded into the force. Revan smiled and, to the surprise of those around him, had tears in his eyes. "Thank you, old friend. I will finish what we started."

They were all silent before turned and said, "I am still quite weak from my long rest. I will follow you, my rescuers."

Moira jumped into action. Quickly, she hustled to one of the consoles and began tapping rapidly away at the keys. "Alright, there is a private hanger not at all fall from here with the Grand Moff's shuttle in it. That's out way out - and _I_ am flying this time."

Des was still struck silent. It dawned on him who the Jedi ghost had been and he was still shocked by who's presence he was standing in. Seeing his friend in such a state, Alias elected to speak. "Excuse my large nerf of a friend, Master Revan. Follow us please. Do you have any weapons?"

Looking around, Revan saw in a case two items, a lightsaber and a Mandalorian war mask. With a flick of his wrist, the case shattered and out came the two items. The first he clipped to his belt and the second, he considered for just a moment before putting it on and pulling his hood over his head. Nedeser gave what would have usually been a very embarrassing exclamation and Alias elbowed him. "Seriously, Vod, you're starting to embarrass me."

"The rest of us too;"growled Dren. "Stop fan-girling and get your head in the game! We're not out of this yet."

Moira took it a step further and gave him a good slap. "Do I have your attention yet?"

Des shook his head and nodded, blushing fiercely. "Right! Let's get out of here."


	12. Epilogue

Luckily for the operatives, the Republic fleet under Oteg was still inside the sector. The Jedi Master had been anxiously awaiting their return and the debriefing took well over an hour. When it was finally finished, the diminutive Admiral sighed and said, "You have all done very well. Now, go get some rest. We'll be back at the Republic fleet in five days. From there, you will all be requested to go to Tython. The Jedi Council are anxious to hear about what you found aboard the Emperor's station, not to mention what you will undoubtedly have to say, Master Revan."

A full day and a half of the five day return was spent in rest and recovery by the operatives who, rather than going to prepared quarters, just laid out bed rolls over some crates in the cargo hold and passed out. Revan had checked on them several times between his quarters or the mess and the bridge but they were mostly left alone. When they had fully recovered, all four of them went to the mess to eat.

Des sighed in satisfaction as he sat down. Moira chuckled, "You seem to be quite pleased with yourself, Des. Why the preening?"

"I am not preening;" said Des, just a little defensively. "It's just the personal pride and pleasure of another mission well done."

"A mission during which every one of your suspicions were proved to be true;" pointed out Alias. "You must be feeling smug, Vod."

"I am never smug;" insisted the Consular rather loftily.

The others chuckled and needled him good-naturedly as they ate but it didn't bother him. They were all enjoying themselves after their most dangerous mission yet, not to mention their longest.

* * *

Master Oteg had proved correct. A representative of the Jedi council met them immediately after they had been shuttled over to the main station and informed them of the council's request before rather hurriedly ushering them to a passenger yacht. Moira was irritated, having not even been able to tell Corso and her crew that she was all right before being rushed to the Jedi homeworld. Dren and Moira were quite interested to see where their two Jedi friends had finished their training.

Looking out the side viewports of the yacht, they both 'oo'd' and 'ahh'd' as the gorgeous scenery. Tython was beautiful, a luscious, green and white world of mountains and forests. As they approached the Jedi complex, their exclamations sounded even more impressed. There was the masters retreat in an area to the north and east, just barely visible beyond the peaks and as they landed, the main Jedi Temple loomed. "Wow!" said Moira, "you Jedi are architectural artists!"

Alias and Des chuckled. "Some of us are, yes. You should see the insides too. There are courtyards with fountains, gardens and, of course, the library;" said Des, sounding almost dreamy when mentioning the library.

Suddenly Moira gave a wicked grin and pulled out a data card. "That reminds me, Des, I haven't taken the opportunity to look at your little library here. Let me see, let me see..."

Revan looked over curiously. "You write, Des? Are you archiving your own stories or recording current events?"

"Not exactly;" said Des, blushing furiously and trying to sound as casual as possible.

His three friends were grinning broadly at his discomfort. Moira shot the ancient master a wink. "When I'm done reading it, maybe I'll loan you the card, Master Revan. I'm sure you'll enjoy it too."

Des went from blushing to pale. "You wouldn't-"

"We're touching down;" called the young Jedi who had collected them from the fleet. "The council is awaiting you."

Moira nodded and replaced her datapad.

They all gathered at the ramp and, when it lowered, filed down. Landing pad they had used was across the complex from the council chamber and Revan took the opportunity to ask Des about numerous different sites. The young Jedi master was only too willing to answer any and all questions, waxing eloquent on the architecture and design of the place as well as any holograms of Jedi of the past - that is to say, Jedi of the past that were still after Revan's time. It would seem that the one-time prisoner was just as interested in history and lore as Nedeser Thul.

As soon as they reached the entrance to the council chamber, the doors opened. Dren and Moira looked at Nedeser and Alias and the latter cleared her throat and stepped back. "We'll follow you two."

Des and Alias nodded and strode in. Behind them went Revan and, side by side, the soldier and the smuggler captain brought up the rear. It seemed that every member of the Jedi Council had returned to Tython to be physically present for the interview with the anomaly that was Revan. When the five visitors came to a stop at the center of the circle, they were met with a very long silence.

Revan looked around with interest, trying to meet the eyes of each member of the council. A rush of memory came to the fore-front of his mind of several different times of appearing before the Jedi Council. There were the times before and during the Mandalorian War. There was during the Jedi Civil War too, just after he had killed Darth Malak, his one time friend and ally. That time, they had, of course, hailed him as a Jedi Hero and Master of the force before quietly ushering him away from the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, giving him and his wife Bastila an apartment away from the temple where he wouldn't be able to influence the Jedi there.

Suddenly, one of the Jedi Masters on the council, a woman of small stature, stood and said, "Welcome home, Master Thul and Jedi Ordo. Welcome to Tython, Master Revan. I am Jedi Grand Master Satele Shan."

Revan's eyes widened and he took a step forward. "Shan!" he murmured before stopping.

Satele smiled and stepped towards him as well. "Yes, Master Revan. I am your descendant and the descendant of Bastila Shan, your wife."

Revan looked her up and down with a smile on his heavily scarred face. "It is an honor to meet you, Grand Master. This temple and the Jedi Order seem to be thriving under this Council's leadership."

"Thriving;" said another Jedi Master, one with a warrior's top knot and a goatee, "is not quite the word I would use. We are all honored to meet the Savior of the Republic and the Prodigal Knight of the Jedi Civil War. Please, Master Revan, tell us your tale, beginning after you disappeared from Coruscant between the death of Malak and the Jedi Purge."

Revan suddenly looked confused. "Jedi Purge? I'm sorry, Master. I don't understand. When did the Jedi Purge take place?"

Satele nodded and replied, "We understand your confusion, Master and we will fill you in but please, do as Master Syo requested and tell us."

Clearing his throat, Revan told his tale. He told of how his memories slowly began to return, giving him great foreboding about some other great threat. He told of his meeting with the Mandalorian warrior Canderous Ordo and other members of his clan and how they found the mask of Mandalore. He recounted finding his way to Sith Space and his capture by the Sith Lords Scourge and Darth Nisa. "They held me captive for a full decade until Meetra Surik rescued me and convinced Lord Scourge to help us destroy the Emperor. Our plan failed, however, when Scourge killed Meetra and the Emperor over powered me. I have been held on the doors of death for three hundred years, being used by the Emperor to make his plans until these four beings rescued me quite impressively." he finally finished, indicating Moira, Dren, Alias and Nedeser.

Silence followed his recitation. Satele seemed to be gazing into empty space before her eyes flicked over to Nedeser Thul. "Barsen'thor, would you sum up the events between Revan's capture and his rescue please?"

Des cleared his throat and bowed, "Of course, Master Satele. After you disappeared, Master Revan, the Sith began to systematically eliminate the Jedi. It wasn't until after that we realized that they did so with a mixture of highly skilled assassination or mass destruction. A triumvirate of Sith Lords deployed an army of assassins or completely obliterated worlds the Jedi gathered on. After this purge, Meetra Surik, the Exile of Malachor, returned to the galaxy in your ship, the _Ebon Hawk_ , I believe it was named. Through a long series of events, Master Surik regained her connection to the force and gathered a few remaining Jedi. After saving the Republic from one of the Triumvirate on Onderon and Taris, she went back to Malachor V and defeat the other two. It wasn't long after that, she allowed your droid Tee-three Em-four to lead her to where you were a captive."

Revan nodded, considering his words. After several minutes, he said allowed, "I will have to meditate on this. In the mean time, I wish to help with the war effort against the Sith Empire."

There was an awkward silence before Master Satele said, "The Republic is not officially at war at this time, Master Revan?"

Several snorts were heard and all I turned to the four Republic heroes. Des looked as serious as ever but Alias was scowling, as were Dren and Moira. The Jedi Guardian cleared his throat and said, "With all do respect, Masters, we cannot allow ourselves to be caught unprepared out of technicalities. After Darth Angrals attack, not to mention the numerous 'unofficial engagements' against them, if we are not yet at war, it is certainly inevitable. We have killed numerous Sith Lords and the Grand Moff Rycus Kilran. I think it's time that the Republic and the Jedi Order drop pretenses and prepare for the inevitable."

Master Kaeden stood and was about to protest sternly when Des cut him off. "With all do respect, Masters, I agree. Inaction will serve no one. I think that it is time for us to drop this charade, if only to show the Empire that we are prepared for when they officially end these pretenses."

Silence followed that declaration and Revan watched with interest. The Masters of the Council were glancing back and forth as one another. Some, including the Grand Master herself, seemed to think the young Jedis' words prudent. Other seemed more skeptical. A new level of respect for his two Jedi rescuers. Not only were they clearly skilled, but the Jedi Council also considered their words quite carefully.

Finally, a Kel Dor Jedi Master spoke. "We will discuss this later. Master Revan, I must ask that you stay on Tython for awhile so that we can continue to speak with you."

At first, Revan looked as though he would protest but, instead, he bowed. "Of course, Master. I will await your pleasure."

Then, to the surprise of all of those in the room, every master stood and bowed towards Revan. Satele Shan said in a reverent voice, "It is a great honor to meet you, Master Revan. Your guide will take you wherever you wish to go in the temple or on the temple grounds."

Recognizing the polite dismissal, Revan smiled and bowed politely.

At first, the four Republic operatives were confused as to whether they should leave as well until the Masters sat down and focused on them. "Now, Master Thul, Jedi Ordo, Captain Denic and Captain Antilles, we would like, in as great a detail as possible a report of your mission."

* * *

Revan stood at a balcony overlooking the temple ground. His young guide, a padawan who had not been able to stop gaping at him except for to point out some site or another, had left him an hour before at what would be his quarters. He had changed into a regular set of tan and brown Jedi guard and gone to a balcony not far from the Council Chamber. There, he had stood and submerged himself in the force, looking for whatever insight he could. It was only so helpful, however, as was usual with the force. Until he had made a decision, the force would most likely keep its wisdom.

Four hours after he had left the chamber, the sounds of boots and conversation approached from behind him. "Now, Vod, if you start fan-girling again, I'm going to leave. I can't handle that kind of embarrassment."

Revan smiled but didn't turn. That was the Mandalorian Jedi Alias Ordo. Revan wondered how Canderous would feel knowing that one of his descendants had become a powerful and skill Jedi.

"I am _not_ fan-girling. I don't fan-girl. What is fan-girling, anyway?"

That would be the Barsen'thor Nedeser Thul. The feminine giggle would be Moira Denic.

Finally, Dren Antilles replied, almost directly behind Revan, "Haven't you ever seen how girls, and some boys apparently, act around their heroes or favorite holo-film stars?"

"I think so;" said Des.

Moira giggled again. "He knows. He's had people do it to him several times."

"Right;" said Dren. " _That's_ fan-girling. Can't believe I just had to explain that. Anyhow, what do you think of Tython, Sir?"

Revan turned to face them with a wide smile. "It's beautiful. My guide said that this is the homeworld of the Jedi Order. It's hard to believe."

"It is;" said Moira, stepping up beside him and leaning on the rail, looking out over the forests. They were all silent as they enjoyed the view. Finally, Alias turned to Revan. "What will you do now, Master?"

Revan shrugged. "I have a few ideas. However, I think that I will, for once in my life, adhere to the will of the council - at least for the time being."

Moira winked and said, "You know, rumor has it that there is a secret society who call themselves the Revanites. Apparently, and this is all rumor by the way, they worship you as a force god or something."

That appeared to disturb Revan. "I'll have to look into that. Thank you, Captain."

"My friends call me Moira;" she said absently as she turned back to face the mountains. Suddenly, it was as if her mind was somewhere else.

Des, Alias and Dren all looked at one another. The first said, "In truth, we will be leaving early on the morrow to get back to our ships at the Republic space station. I've a feeling our shuttle will depart at while you are having another discussion with the council so this is also goodbye - for the present at least."

Revan proffered a hand and said, "May the force be with each of you. Master Thul, trust your judgement and do not allow your youth to discourage you nor the trust others place in you to intimidate you. It is well placed."

Des seemed shocked and blushed deeply. Revan turned to Alias. "Your skills are impressive, Jedi Ordo and you make it quite easy to believe that Mandalorian blood runs through your veins. When you go forth to battle, anchor yourself in the force and in the light and you will always find the way."

Alias bowed and murmured something in Mando'a, causing the Jedi Master to smile. "Captain Denic - Moira, remember that doing the right thing does not always mean your play by the government's rules. There are ways to do so without committing to anything more than your own principles."

Moira smiled and surprised the Jedi Master with a pack on the cheek and a, "Thanks for that. It was something I really needed to hear."

Finally, Revan turned to Dren, who looked horribly uncomfortable. "Captain Antilles;" said the Jedi Master gravely, "good luck with your- um- problem."

With that, the master retired. They all turned to Dren, who was slack jawed. "There's no way that he knew. There's no way. Unless one of you told him. Which of you told him? Moira?"

Laughter rang from the balcony, echoing across the temple grounds.

* * *

 **Aboard the _Soaring Dream_ \- Docked at Carrick Station**

Moira pelted up the ramp and straight into the arms of Corso Riggs. "WOAH, Captain!" said the big man with a chuckle. "Easy! Everything's alright here. Are you doing okay?"

"Much better now;" she said, clinging to him like a lifeline. "We need to talk, Corso."

"I know, Captain. Come on. Let's go have a seat in the lounge and-"

But he was cut off by a loud roar. The Wookiee Bowdarr came thundering down the corridor and scooped up Moira in a fierce hug. "Bowdarr!" she laughed, "I'm okay! Put me down! You don't need to carry me!"

One more pair of feet, those of Risha Dreyan, hurried down the corridor. She laughed and said, "Put her down, Bowy! You don't want to crush her, do you?"

As soon as Moira was on the ground again, Risha was hugging her fiercely as well. Over Risha's shoulder, Moira looked into Corso's eyes.

The farm boy-turned-mercenary smiled and winked at her. They'ed have that talk eventually but at the moment, reunion and celebration were in order and Moira knew that Risha would not allow them to postpone them. "Drinks!" crowed the princess of crime. "We need drinks! And Corso, start the cooking and I'll help you! We need food for a party!"

Corso chuckled and gave a mock salute. "She's been bossing me and Bowy around since you left."

"What?" said Moira in mock-annoyance, "Corso's second in command around here. If anyone's doing any bossing around, it should be him."

"Yeah;" muttered Risha, "like that will ever happen."

* * *

 **Aboard the _Meteor -_ docked at Carrick Station**

With a sigh, Dren strode back aboard his ship, rubbing the entry way fondly as he did. Sitting in the main room were Aric Jorgan, his executive officer, and Tano Vik, his demo expert. "Sir;" said Jorgan with a large grin. "welcome back. We're glad you made it."

They shook hands and back slapped. "You're going to have to tell us all about your mission, Sir;" said Tano Vik, eagerly. Dren nodded. "Later, gentlemen, later. There's something I need to take care of first."

"That's alright;" said Vik, "we were about to head out and grab a bite. Oh, and the droids charging at the moment. Otherwise, I'm sure he'd be glad to meet you too. If you need anything, we have our comlinks."

Dren smiled gratefully as they headed towards the ramp. When the boarding hatch hissed shut, Dren took a deep breath and headed towards the medbay. The door, to his surprise, was shut tight. Unsure of what else to do, he knocked on the door. It was several long moments before the door hissed open and there she stood. Unable to help himself, Dren wrapped his arms around and whispered, "I'm so sorry for being such a nerf-brained moron, Elara."

Silence followed until Dren let her go, clasping his hands behind his back. Elara's face would have been comical, covered as it was with relief but still trying to look serious and aloof. "I'm glad to see that you have returned safely, sir."

That's when Dren looked around and his heart sank. She had been packing. She had already been packing. Sighing, Dren said, "I guess you made your choice then, Sergeant."

Elara Dorne was silent, not meeting his eyes. Dren didn't know what to do so he said, "Well then, if you need a referral, I can write you one. I guarantee you'll get any command that you want in the Republic military. Do you need anything else, Lieutenant?"

She was watching him now, still unresponsive. Dren nodded and turned to leave before turning back around and saying, "For the record, Elara, I want you to stay. You're the best damned medic I've ever had, you're efficient and you're, without a doubt, the smartest person aboard, knowing regs in and out and how to get around them when necessary. More to the point, I _want_ you to stay aboard. Elara you... I..."

And he flailed, looking for something to express how much he wanted her in his life. Was it love? He didn't know but what he did know was that he wanted her to stay and they could figure it out. "Yes, Captain?" she asked quietly.

"You have become important to me personally, Elara;" he said. "All professionalism aside, I-" and he took a deep breath; "I have a special place in may heart and my thoughts for you and if you were to leave, I'd be devastated."

He didn't dare to look at her after that. All he could do was ask, "If I'm way off base, please, just let me know."

A small hand took his chin and made him look up. "Captain;" she said, "you have made a strong argument."

Her face was still serious but those eyes were sparkling. "I think I shall stay aboard for awhile but you had better behave yourself more appropriately. I still have that paperwork filled out and, so help me-" but Dren cut her off, kissing her soundly.

After several long moments, he pulled away and said, "I'm sorry, you were saying?"

Elara tried to glare at him but it didn't hold very much heat. Turning serious again, Dren said, "I _am_ sorry, Elara. I got so nervous about everything and acted a fool."

"Yes you did; however, I think that you learned your lesson. Now;" she said peering over his shoulder, "are Jorgan and Vik aboard?"

Dren shook his head.

"Is Em-One Four-Ex on the charger?"

He nodded his head, wondering what in blazes she was getting at.

Elara smiled coyly and smacked the panel behind him, closing the door. "I am so glad you made it back, safe and sound;" she whispered before kissing him deeply again.

Dren held her close to him contentedly. The was was going to start again and it would start again soon. But in the mean time, he would cherish this quiet time. "Captain;" murmured Elara, "have you had a medical examination since you've been back?"

Dren was about to say that he had when he thought better of it, shaking his head instead. Elara smiled and motioned over to the examination bed. "Give me a moment, and I will be there to check you over in a moment, Captain. We need to make sure that your are healthy and whole before another mission comes up."

"I leave myself in your capable hands, Lieutenant;" said Dren, plopping down on the exam bed and crossing his feet, resting his hands behind his head and staring at the white ceiling, waiting as Elara pulled on gloves and a lab coat.

"Right;" she said, her elegant Dromund Kaas accent causing his stomach to clench. "shall we begin, Sir?"


End file.
